


A silent threat

by Ourobouros



Category: South Park
Genre: Bullying, Homophobia, M/M, Older Characters, Peer Pressure, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:47:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23727817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ourobouros/pseuds/Ourobouros
Summary: Set in 11 and 12 grade. (Tweek is 16, nearing 17. Whilst Craig is 17-18 in the story, around a year and a few days difference)
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. First day back

Tweek walked out of his last Junior class of the day, quickly walking through the crowds that swarmed into the corridors like a river. The small teen seemed to shrink amongst the larger people, his diminutive size making him look alien, compared to everyone else, though it made it easier to slip away unnoticed, dispute his trembling.

Eventually he reached a more secluded location, a group of three others, all from his grade, smoking against a wall, chatting and taunting each other. Tweek quickly averted his gaze, his pace quickening as he walked to the furthest corner of the area. He took out his maths book, beginning to complete some homework.

Despite his efforts to ignore it, he was acutely aware of the scornful glares that the three were sending him, most notable was the jock-looking guy, although the one with crutches and the one wearing purple clothes also sent occasionally glanced his way.

After what felt like an hour, a large crash came from the doorway, making Tweek leap up, letting out a quiet 'eep'. Eyes twitching repeatedly, shaking profusely, he looked towards the source of the commotion. Terror set over him as his gaze fell upon an unnaturally tall, broad shouldered, muscular man with pale tan skin. The stranger wore a baggy blue hoodie and lightly torn black trousers. His facial features were obscured by the side of his chullo hat.

Tweek began trembling wildly, backing against the wall, as the previous aggressive one jabbed a thumb in his direction. Terror filled golden-emerald eyes met cold, unwavering, empty blue. The gang began to approach him, suddenly, making him shrink back in terror, clutching his maths book tightly to his chest, twitching, shaking and heart-racing with adrenaline. He momentarily glanced around, in hopes for an escape, before he realised that they could easily out run him if they wanted to.

Tweek glanced up anxiously, meeting the frigid eyes once more, but upon closer inspection, he noticed that one iris was closer to a silver-grey than blue, yet still empty. There was not emotion to them, not even slight triumph, hate or anger. Just voids.

Distracted by the strangers odd eyes, he didn't see the fist that had swung around and hit the side of his neck. Within moments, the other students had swarmed him, landing hit after hit, whilst he crumpled to the ground in a pain. At one point, the group stopped and he felt a hand grip his wild blond hair, lifting his bruised face from the hard, concrete floor. He looked up weakly, meeting the eyes of the person holding his head.

"Stay off our area, or next time, he won't be so soft on you." The jock growled, pointing to the tall senior at the 'he'.He let go of Tweek's head, kicking him in the side, before he followed the tall one out of the area.

Tweek was found unconscious by one of the cleaners after the school had emptied. He awoke in the school nurse office, his bleeding wounds fixed. After convincing the nurse he was fine, he went home to his parents, eating before going straight to bed.

His mind must've ran through the memory over a thousand times, assessing each of his attackers, until his mind eventually trailed back to those eyes. Cold and icy. But when he thought about it, he realised that the stranger's face had been bruised and scarred. Terror shot down his spine as it occurred to him that he might have been a rare lucky one to have escaped that fight alive, to have that person be 'soft' on him.

Sleep eventually came to him and he made it his goal to find out who these people were. The next day, once he had packed everything, gotten dressed and had breakfast, he walked to his school through the bustling streets.

He spent his break time asking around, but each time he asked, they would either ignore him of walk away as quickly as possible.

Lunch time eventually rolled around and he glanced around the cafeteria, looking for the least threatening kid there. After a short while, he wandered up to one of the 11th graders from his class, Kyle Schwartz.

"Oh, h-hey Tweek." The annoying teen said as Tweek sat opposite him.

"H-hey Kyle! ACK!" Tweek replied, twitching, " can I ask you something? Do you know who that jock kid in our grade with the 'SP' on his shirt?"

"I think you should talk to my cousin, Kyle and h-his friends. I th-think they were friends a while ago, but be careful if you try to talk to that jock kid, he's part of a really nasty gang here, th-theyre the biggest bullies here." He responded, before returning to his loud eating, pointing to a table several rows away.

Tweek walked to the suggested table, "h-hey, are-are any of you-ACK- Kyle? U-um Kyle Schwartz's cousin?" He stuttered nervously.

The four strangers looked at each other in confusion, before the one in a green hat, with strands of curly red hair sticking out, looked at him again, "That's me... who are you and what do you need?"

Tweek took a step back, "o-oh! I-I'm Tweek Tweak. I-I was told-ACK- I was told that you knew who the jock kid, that kid on crutches, that one with a purple t-shirt with a T on it A-a-and that re-really tall one, with the blue hoodie."

Kyle looked at the others again, "You mean Clyde, Jimmy, Token and Craig, in that order? Those guys over there?" He said pointed to the most secluded table in the dining hall, where, sure enough, all four sat, laughing and joking, apart from the one with the blue eyes- Craig- who simply sat their, looking distant, almost sad, but not quite.

Tweek nodded, "y-yes. Thank you-ACK- I appreciate it, K-Kyle."

"I wouldn't recommend speaking to them though. You'll get beaten up. It kind of weird, Jimmy, Token and Clyde were idiots but not bullies. Even Craig didn't beat random people for no reason, even if he was a dick. I wonder what happened to them. I don't think Craig even speaks to them anymore, he just hangs around them and somehow still leads their gang." Stan added thoughtfully, worry eating at his gaze.

"Fuck off Stan! I was looking forward to seeing this spaz get beaten up!" Cartman yelled in his notorious voice, though his complaints were ignored.

"I-uh- I... need to -ACK- g-get going. Th-thank you." Tweek stuttered, backing away, anxiety eating at his mind. He slipped away through the crowds, leaving the group alone. Walking shakilly through campus, he wandered randomly, trembling despite the summer heat.

Tweek sat down in a shady corner, a lonely expression settling in on his face. A flash of blue caught his regard and he looked up, to see the feared senior, Craig. He shrank back into the corner, trying to stay unnoticed, whilst peeking at the bully from behind his bag.

Craig unzipped his hoodie, sliding it from his shoulders, along with his bag, before throwing it up into the tree branches. He fiddled with his black t-shirt, with a strange symbol on it. Tweek noticed a metal pendant secured by a chain around his neck, though he couldn't make it out from the distance.

Craig quickly scaled the tree, climbing branch by branch, until he was hidden in the bright green leaves. Tweek returned to his previous state, sat frozen in the corner, until something hit him in the head.

Whipping his head around to find what had hit him, a cold terror dawned on him as he saw Clyde, Token and Jimmy walking at the lower path, oblivious to his presence.

"Where's Craig? Hope he hasn't ditched us." Clyde said loudly, as they stopped near the tree.

"P-pr-probably went to get laid by a chick again." Jimmy replied.

"You don't actually believe that, do you? I've know him nearly my entire life, he's never been with anyone in his life." Token added, his face blank, though not as desolate as Craig's.

"Token's right... so where is he at?" Clyde sighed.

Tweek wondered why Craig was hiding away in the tree, which was when he noticed a face, poking out from the ditch behind the group. The stranger began to advance slowly silently, the tell tale glint of a blade in his hand. Before Tweek could call out to them, a court of blue and black hurled out of the tree, wrestling the stranger to the floor. He managed to wrench the knife from their hands, after a partially hidden battle.

Craig repeatedly beat in the attacker's face until he was unconscious, bleeing and bruised, before standing up, pulling on his hoodie quickly.

"Holy shit are you alright?!" Tweek yelled from his corner, instantly regretting in when all four hostile faces turned to him.

Clyde glanced across the terrain swiftly, snatching up a rock and hurling it at Tweek's head, causing a minor commotion between the bullies, so that when they turned around to check on Craig, he was gone.

Tweek dashed as quickly as possible, ducking behind a bin as the bullies ran by, as he prayed they wouldn't find him. Once they where gone, he retrieved Craig's bag, which he had left behind.

"I can return this tomorrow I suppose..." He mumbled to himself, despite knowing what it would entail, although he knew that he would likely get beaten by the bullies, but he felt it necessary to return the bag in person.

Tweek sighed, carrying n is precious cargo onto the bus. He noticed that people seemed to fear him, shuffling away as if they would be attacked for helping someone who appears to have stolen the bag of their Primary bully.

As usual, he sat alone at the back of the bus, listening to his music the full way home. Once there, he grabbed both bags and nearly ran into his house.

"Tweek? Who's bag is that?" Mrs.Tweak asked, as he burst in.

"Oh. I-It belongs to his kid from s-school-ACK. He stopped a knife attack and ran off again, but left his bag behind, so I p-picked it up so I could give it-ACK- give it back to him tomorrow." He said quickly, before darting upstairs, to his room, gently placing both bags on the ground, before returning to his parents to eat his food.

"You did a good thing, getting that bag for that boy, son. Good to know that your school has a little crime fighter. Maybe you won't get bullied as much now." Richard mused.

"H-he's-ACK- A-actually the leader of the nastiest gang of bullies in sch-school-ACK" Tweek said quietly. His parents looked at each other in shock,

"Was it him and his gang that beat you up last time?!" Mrs.Tweak asked in outrage.

"I-uh...y-yeah...i-it was them..." Tweek said quietly, turning away. His parents broke out in lectures and yelling, so he ran up to his room, slamming the door and locking it, angrily.

"I just wanted to help him..." He grumbled to himself as he changed, before slipping into his bed, in an attempt to sleep.

The next day, he followed his usual routine, making sure to grab the extra bag. The bus ride was near identical to that of yesterday afternoon. But when he arrived at school, he headed straight for the tree. Sure enough, Craig was stood there, silent as always, moving his hands as if something was crawling over them.

Tweek walked toward the much larger student, who completely ignored him, or was too focused on the insect to care. The blonde peered up at Craig, who was over a foot taller, with a pang of horror, he noticed more wounds and bruises on his face.

"U-um. I-uh I have your bag. You left it when you when home after saving your friends." Tweek said nervously, holding out the bag, gingerly.

Craig paused, the beetle flying away. He looked down at Tweek, his mismatched eyes narrowing slightly in a cold suspicion. He snatched his bag out of Tweek's hands, his face still empty as he towered over the small teen.

Craig slung his bag over his shoulders, glaring at the blonde. All of a sudden, he shoved Tweek to the ground his large, scarred fists pummelling his chest repeatedly.

Tweek let out a shriek, but was quickly silenced by another punch. He looked around, tears streaming down his face. He saw Craig's gang by a corner, laughing at him, before turning the corner.

A few moments after they left, Craig stood up, letting go of Tweek's bloodied shirt. After a moment's hesitation and a quick glance around the area, upon seeing a few people watching, terrified, he delivered a final kick to Tweek's side, before turning on his heel and walking away quickly, head low, to his class, flipping him off while he walked away.

Tweek was sent to the nurse the moment he arrived at class and was kept there until block four, despite his protests to leave earlier.

Tweek arrived in his class with Mr.Hall, an English Class. Mr. Hall stood in front of the projector screen as usual, but his words were out of the ordinary.

"Alright class. Today we have a guest asstitant. He is our top mark student in years. Due to personal reasons, I won't open to questions for this lesson and this senior has generously volunteered to take over for today. Please welcome, Mr. Tucker." The teacher announced proudly, watching as the figure slunk into the classroom.

Tweek shrunk into his chair in terror, Craig, the most well known bully in school, was stood in the doorway, looking somewhat more barren faced that usual.

Craig wandered to the back corner, his features gaunt and thin, looking more disintersted than all the students, who kept glancing back at him in fear.

Most of the lesson went by as usual, although a few brave students asked Craig about their work. Tweek notices that he didn't even speak when doing so, he just wrote a quick note on how to correct their mistakes, before stalking back to the corner.

Apparently, other people had also noticed because the person at a few seats in front of Tweek suddenly blurted out,

"Why don't you speak?" The student turned to Craig quickly, but shrunk back, like most of the class, when she saw the silver-blue eyes, which seemed colder than before, narrowed.

Mr.Hall stood up as that moment, seeming urgent, "Now, now thats not something you just ask someone, it could be personal. Mr. Tucker is capable of speaking, but simply chooses not to." He concluded, sitting down again, leaving the class with more questions, which wouldn't be answered.

Halfway into the class, they heard a muffled hiss of annoyance from the corner, the class turned around to see a large patch of blood staining his hoodie around his stomach area, though his face showed no pain.

"M-Mr. Hall? Craig is-ACK- he's b-bleeding!" Tweek called out urgently, leading the teacher to turn around, his face going pale in horror.

"Holy shit! That looks bad. Uh, you can go home Craig." He called to him, still shocked.

"ACK-Home?! Shouldn't he visit the nurse instead? That's probably from the kid with a knife who went for his friend yesterday!" Tweek yelled, worry tainting his voice, but he ignored the whispers that rose up around him.

"Don't worry, Tweek, Craig boxes as a hobby. He knows how to check a wound properly, and if it does get worse, He can go to a hospital." Mr. Hall reasoned, as Craig quickly gathered his bag and walked out of class, not before shooting a cold glare at Tweek.

The last two lessons varies on normally, apart from the fact that Tweek was terrified. He wasn't sure why he was so worried for a hill as wellbeing, but he felt it wrong for someone to be punished by potential death, just for bullying. He felt appalled that the teacher didn't even ask any questions about how he got it.

At the end of the day, he opted to walk home, giving him more time to think over the day. As he reached his parents house, he hung up his bag and prepared a mug of coffee, thankfully no longer laced with meth. After eating his meal, not saying a word about school to his parents, not after their last reaction, he retired to his room, yet refused to sleep. He stayed up, drinking coffee, until he was certain his parents were asleep. Once they were, he snuck downstairs, his shaking hand gripping the keys as he unlocked the front door and walked out into the cold darkness of the night, his breath appearing as a pale mist in front of his face.

He walked through the empty streets, the fresh snow crunching beneath his feet. A cold wind blew into his face as he walked alone. He took the silence to reflect on the recent events, in the end deciding that he refused to avoid the bullies in terror, instead deciding to just ignore them the best he can.

A few street lights dotted the pavement casting a near ominous light onto the pristine snow. Tweek shivered in the cold, glad that he had a warm coat. He stopped in his tracks when he saw shards of a broken bottle on the ground, as well as the distinct red drops of blood. His heartbeat quickened, as he glanced around hoping not to see any other signs of hostility near by.

Unfortunately, a few metres away, there were bloody drag marks. Terror shot through him, but, nonetheless, he followed the trail, ignoring his fears.

Tweek eventually reached an alley way, feeling slightly cautious from the blood. He glanced around, not seeing anyone, but noticing a spatter of blood in a dent in a large dumpster. He cringed, thinking of the pain that the victim must of felt. He walked past the bins, looking through the rest of the alley.

When he turned around again, he frozen, a horrifically beaten, yet familiar face, was looking back at him, eyes narrowed slightly. A gash above his eye clouded his grey eye with blood. He was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt with torn baggy trousers. Craig glared at him coldly, before struggling to his feet, ignoring Tweek's outstretched hand.

"Wh-what are you doing out here in the cold?! Why are you bleeding?! How long have you been out here for?!" Tweek asked, worried, considering what happened in class that day.

Craig shook his head, beginning to walk away with a limp, ignoring the blonde completely, his dark gaze devoid of emotion.

Tweek caught his arm as he walked past him, "You _need_ to go to the hospital, your wounds could get infected or you could get hypothermia."

A flash of fury appeared in his eyes and he wrenched his arm free, looking over the blonde, menacingly. He shoved him away, squaring his broad shoulders.

"Just let me help you! You could die if you don't let the doctors check your wounds!" Tweek nearly yelled, to Craig's obvious annoyance.

Craig sighed and rolled his eyes, flipping him off and walking away, ignoring his limp. Tweek huffed and walked beside him, not wanting to let him out of his sight, out of fear. Craig stopped at a tree, sitting down on one of the roots, with a sigh, glaring at Tweek.

"C-can't you at least go h-home?" Tweek asked, standing in front of him, with crossed arms, trembling.

Craig just stared at him, his gaze cold and empty, not bothering to even respond in any way. He froze when Tweek sat down beside him, looking at the bruises and cuts that littered Craig's face, as well as the scars.

Craig shot him a sideways glare, shuffling away from the blonde.

"Can you at least say something? I'm only trying to help you! The least you could do is answer me!" Tweek muttered, angrily, though worry glittered in his eyes, betraying his emotion.

Craig sighed, giving up, " fine. Can't go home, I'm locked out. I'm not going to he hospital. The rest is none of your business." He growled, in a deep, nasally, monotone voice, finally giving Tweek a voice to match to the person.

Tweek went quiet for a moment, " Who did this? Why?"

Craig looked away, angrily, standing up, looking down at him darkly. He shoved Tweek away, when the blonde stood up to follow him, his eyes hostile and angry.

"Leave me be, spaz. I've had worse wounds and I've survived." He muttered, whilst Tweek scrambled to his feet, shaking violently.

Despite his fear, he stood up and faced Craig, " if you really didn't want my help, you would've beaten me up until I'm unconscious." He challenged.

Craig narrowed his eyes, "not quite. Knocking someone unconscious when there's snow on the ground, they could freeze to death. It's immoral." He replied firmly, his expression dark and blank.

Tweek shrugged, "w-well, even so, I'm not letting you spend the night out here in the snow. You can stay at my house, so that you don't have to explain anything to your friends." He said sternly.

Craig paused, about to refuse, but sighed knowing it would get him nowhere.

"Fine. If it'll shut you up."


	2. Not a good idea

Tweek grinned at his answer, grabbing his arm and almost dragging him toward his house, proud of his 'accomplishment'. Craig trailed along behind him, severely annoyed, his face blank again.

After a short while, they reached Tweek's house and he unlocked the front door, before opening it. Craig followed him in, his wounds not bleeding anymore. Tweek led him up to his room, where Craig sat down in the corner, silently. Tweek looked at him, before standing up and walking downstairs for about a minute. When he returned, he was carrying some rubbing alcohol, a piece of cloth, bandages and pain killers, although Craig didn't notice him.

Craig only looked up when Tweek crouched down in front of him, twitching wildly, looking into Craig's eyes. Tweek grabbed the cloth and the rubbing alcohol and poured a small amount onto the cloth. He reached out to Craig's face with the cloth, but the older boy caught his hand, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Tweek rolled his eyes, slight frustration entering his eyes, " I n-need to clean your wound. Take off your hat, I need to get that cut from the-ACK- the b-bottle." He murmured, not wanting to wake his parents.

Craig let go off his hand hesitantly, still thinking of him as untrustworthy, and took off his blue chullo hat, irritably, as Tweek began cleaning the wounds on his face.

Craig watched him as he finished and moved away from him, shaking slightly.

"Thanks..." He muttered, reluctantly, averting his gaze.

Tweek smiled brightly, "Its no p-problem. Here's some pain killers, for the p-pain."

Craig shook his head, with a slight urgency, holding up his hands, " No. I'm not allowed near those things."

Tweek's eyes widened in alarm, " You... you had an addiction?"

Craig froze, "uh... not quite..." He paused, contemplating whether to elaborate, before continuing, "I tried to overdose a year ago." He muttered, deciding that he could easily deny it if he told anyone.

Tweek walked over and hugged him tightly, but Craig shoved him away harshly,

"Don't do that." He grumbled, refusing to meet Tweek's eyes. Grabbing it from the ground, he put his hat back on, hiding his head wound.

"Sorry... uh, y-you should get that twound from the bottle looked at, you might have a concussion..." Tweek mumbled, awkwardly, embarrassed that he had tried to hug a bully that had beaten him up two times.

The two sat in silence, with Tweek sat on his bed, and Craig sat in the corner of his room, looking at the ground.

"Who... who did that to you a-anyway?" Tweek asked, breaking the welcome silence.

Craig frozen, before bristling defensively, "You don't need to know that." He growled, looking him in the eye coldly. Noticing that Tweek instantly began trembling in fear, he relaxed his glare, feeling a slight guilt, considering that he was in the blonde's house and he had been nothing but kind to him.

Tweek seemed to relax as well, at that, though he still appeared scared of him. Craig pulled out his phone and began watching a few videos. He noticed Tweek staring at him, confused, 

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-youve had your phone on you this whole time? Couldn't you have called your parents so they could let you in?" Tweek asked, looking slightly irritated.

Craig rolled his eyes, "my dad's the one that locked me out." He said quietly, his expression desolate.

Tweek paused, a glint of shock flashing in his eyes, " What about your mum? Siblings?"

Craig shrugged, "Eh... my mum and sister died a couple of years back. Suicide bomber went for the concert they were at in a different state." He said, without a shred of difficulty or grief.

"You... didn't like them that much?" Tweek asked, as he stood up and sat down opposite him, so that he could try to read his subtle emotions better. 

Craig looked down, to meet Tweek's inquisitive gaze, "not really. Tricia was an saw and neither of them did anything positive." He muttered, his voice remaining monotone and nasally.

Tweek glanced at his chest, when a flash of light gleaned off of something. He stared at the metal pendant around his neck, still unable to figure out what it was.

"What is it? On your necklace?" He asked, his gaze returning to Craig's frigid, unwelcoming eyes.

Craig froze, lifting a hand to hold the pendant, "Oh... it's this Norse thing, Jormungand, The Midgard World Serpent. It says it in runes on one side." He said, hesitantly holding it out so that Tweek could see it.

Tweek looked at it, curiously, "It looks similar to Ourobouros." He said quietly.

Craig nodded, " they're similar, Ourobouros had Egyptian origin though." He said quietly.

Tweek smiled, as Craig let go of the pendant, letting it fall back into its place, but his smile faded after a while, his expression thoughtful for a moment, before he spoke,

"Was it your dad that attacked you earlier?!" He asked, realisation hitting him like a train. Craig froze in alarm, his eyes widening slightly,

"Uh. Yeah, it was. How'd you know?" He replied nonchalantly, his shock fading. His gaze remained trained on Tweek, who looked pale with horror. Craig's eyes remained blank, despite his slight amusement, as Tweek's face spiralled through several emotions, before settling on a mix of sympathy and shock.

"W-well... you said that he locked you out and all of the kids at school are way to scared of you to dare try to hurt you." He mumbled quietly.

"Hm. Well don't go telling anyone about this." He added, as he looked into the blonde's eyes, his gaze hardening sternly as he spoke.

Tweek frowned, " I'm not going to say anything. But I think you should at least tell some kind of authority, it could h-help." He said quietly.

Craig shook his head, " No. That wouldn't help." He muttered, looking away again, his voice still flat and empty. Tweek stared at Craig, as the black haired senior looked away from him. They fell into a silence, only the occasional noise of a bird flying outside disrupting it. Craig was slightly surprised that Tweek had believed him, considering that the few people he had told never believed it.

It was around six am, when Tweek's bedroom door opened suddenly, and a man, a bit shorter than Craig, appeared in the door.

"Tweek! You need to get ready for scho- who's that? Why's he in our house?" His dad asked, when he noticed Tweek and Craig sat opposite each other in the corner.

Tweek began trembling slightly when faced by his father, " h-he got locked out and someone-ACK- someone attacked him. I already kn-know him from school."

Mr.Tweak smiled calmly, "Oh. Is he one of your friends? He looks a bit too old to be a student."

Craig shook his head, " we aren't friends, and I'm a senior, 17." He muttered, glaring at Tweek's father, with his cold barren eyes.

Tweek's expression seemed to sadden slightly, but, trembling, he spoke up,

"Uh... th-this is-ACK- C-Craig... he's the one th-that's stopped the knife attack at school..." Tweek mumbled nervously, twitching wildly.

Mr.Tweak eyes widened, " the one that bullied you?! Why didn't you just leave him there?! I don't want you hanging around people like him!" He near yelled.

Tweek looked utterly defeated, as he stared at the floor, "fine... it won't happen again..." He murmured, appearing as if he was on the brink of tears.

Craig rolled his silver-blue eyes, shooting Tweek's father a cold glare, which seemed to unnerve him slightly.

"See Tweek?" The man said, turning to his son, "I told you that mismatched eyes are a mark of Satan." He said, almost pompously, an unpleasant arrogance dripping from the words.

Craig simply stood up and shoved past him, not before flipping him off. He walked out of the unfamiliar house, pulling a cigarette and a lighter from his trouser pocket, slightly frustrated that he didn't have his hoodie with him, although his Avenged Sevenfold T-shirt was sufficient enough for him. He lit the end of the cigarette, before taking a long drag, and exhaling the smoke.

Craig walked up to the bus stop, where the school bus always stopped, even though he preferred to walk, he found it amusing to see how scared they were of him.

When he saw the bus reach the top of a hill, partially hidden by traffic, he put it out and threw it into the nearest bin, before waiting for it to arrive.

"Craig!" He heard someone call his name from behind him, he turned, with the other people waiting, to see Tweek, running toward him. The other students looked awfully confused, as Tweek reached him, slightly out of breath.

"I'm really sorry about what my dad said. He's an idiot." He said, earning them more confusion and curiosity.

Craig narrowed his eyes, his gaze cold and desolate, he turned away from Tweek, as the bus doors swung open conveniently. As he stepped on the bus, it fell into silence and air of fear falling over he students. He walled to the seat furthest from anyone else, before plugging in his headphones and listening to his music, looking out the window.

It wasn't until someone tapped him on the shoulder, that he turned around. He saw Tweek stood in the gap between the rows of seats, looking at him.

He pulled off his headphones, irritably, his gaze hard with a mild anger. It was then that he noticed a small, bleeding cut on his cheek, his eyes looking tearful.

"I-uh... I got on the bus l-last... they w-wont let me sit anywhere.. c-could i sit here?" He asked, his voice shaky.

Craig sighed, feeling a small tinge of sympathy for the tiny spaz and shrugged nonchalantly, feeling as though he owed him a bit, for his previous hospitality. As soon as Tweek sat down, a ripple of whispers rippled through the bus, but Craig ignored them, opting to return to his music.

The bus eventually stopped in the coach park at the school and everyone rushed to get off. Craig was the last one off, hanging around near the back, not wanting to get caught in the crowds.

Tweek went straight to his class, thankful that Craig had let him sit beside him. He constantly wiped the small cut on his face, clearing away the tiny beads of blood. His first two blocks, maths and English, went by as usual. At break time, he went to his usual spot, to read a book.

After a few minutes, three people stopped in front of him, looking down at him, scorn burning in their eyes. As soon as he looked up at them, terror flooded his senses as he recognised Clyde, Token and Jimmy.

"Listen, spaz. You might be a fag. But we aren't gonna let you make everyone think that Craig is as well, just because you're a fucking wuss that begs for attention and he, for some reason, decides to show sympathy to a faggot like you." Clyde snarled, grabbing him by the collar and raising a fist to punch him.

Tweek closed his eye, bracing himself for the pain, but it never came. He opened one eye, to see Craig, who had caught Clyde's fist and shoved him away.

Even though Tweek was the one being defended, his felt an abysmal fear, seeing Craig's expression and he instantly understood the schoolwide terror of the senior. 

Craig's eyes were dark with menace and ablaze with fury, yet still seemed empty. He loomed over his friend, his height adding to his intimidation.

"Don't. You. Fucking. _Dare._ Say that again." He growled quietly, his gaze icy.

Clyde gave a weak nod, his eyes wide, looking as if he wa shitting himself in fear. The three backed away slightly, exchanging partially confused looks. Craig stepped back, his anger vanishing almost instantly, his face blank once again.

"Why are you defending _him_?" Token asked, his tone laced with accusation.

Craig glared at him sharply, "I got locked out again last night and he helped out. It's a simple human courtesy." He hissed, keeping the facts vague. He stood in front of Tweek, making sure that his friends didn't try anything, although he doubted that they would.

Clyde hesitated before backing away, "fine. We'll see you at lunch, Craig." He mumbled, before walking away from the scene.

Craig turned to Tweek, blankly, " You alright?" He asked in his usual, deep, monotone voice.

Tweek gave him a light smile, "yeah... thanks for that..." He said, his eyes shining with gratitude. He looked up, meeting Craig's mismatched eyes, feeling a confusion at why his father thought it was satanic; he thought it was rather interesting and unique.

Craig looked away quickly, "No problem." He grumbled, before turning away, flipping Tweek off as he went.

Tweek gave a small chuckle, instead of taking offense, like most people did. He smiled, as he returned to his book, until the five minute bell rang, signalling for students to make their way to their classes.

The last three blocks went by normally, although he noticed that he felt a constant weight in his chest. When he got home, he dropped off his bag, and stopped for some coffee.

As soon as he finished his mug, he stood up to leave, but his father stopped him at the door.

"Listen, Tweek. If you ever see that bully again, I want you to stay away." He said sternly, " he might end up killing you!"

Tweek narrowed his eyes, irritated, "No he wouldn't! Actually, b-because I helped him yesterday, he stopped his friends from beating me up! He's much n-nicer than most 'bullies'. When I was last on the bus and nobody let me sit beside them, he did!" He retorted, defensively, before walking out of the house, not giving his father a chance to respond.

He wandered through the town, until he reached the park, walking through the summer air, as the sun touched the western horizon. He wandered through the trees, toward the lake. Enjoying the crisp evening, he did several laps of the park, finding peace in the tranquil noises of water, shuffling animals and rustling shrubs.

Tweek noticed someone sat on a bench, on the opposite shore, their face hidden. He shrugged and continued his walk, but when he reached the area near the bench, he heard a quiet song playing.

_"I push my fingers into my eyes,_

_It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache._

_But it made of all the things I have to take,_

_Jesus it never ends,_

_It works it's way inside._

_If the pain goes on..."_

The lyrics rang out almost eerily.

Tweek pushed through a bush, approaching the noise. He heard the stranger speaking softly, yet in a monotone. Instantly recognising him, Tweek smiled and walked up to Craig, tapping him on the shoulder.

Craig spun around, ready to hit whoever had come up behind him. But he stopped suddenly, when a loud wheeking came from his lap. 

Tweek looked over his shoulder, his gaze lighting up as he saw a lilac, tricolour cavy.

"You have a guinea pig? What's it's name?" He asked, inquisitively.

Craig shot him an irritable glare, as he paused his music, " his name is Stripe, or Stripe #7, #8 is at home."

Tweek gave alight laugh, " very creative with the names." He said sarcastically, walking around the bench to sit beside him.

Craig shrugged, "Eh. They don't know that they have the same name. It's fine." He said flatly, watching his pet, with a certain warmth to his blank expression that Tweek doubted anyone had seen before.

The guinea pig squeaked, as Craig pulled a small chunk of carrot from a ziplock bag, feeding it to the rodent.

Tweek smiled, his twitching easing, he looked up, examining Craig's expression, calm and barren as was normal, with a slight undertone of annoyance. That was when Craig turned to glare at him. Letting out a tiny gasp of shock, he saw that he had a dark, purple bruise around his eye and a deep, bleeding gash over his cheek bone.

"D-did it happen again?" He asked, sympathy lacing his voice.

Craig rolled his eyes, "What do you think? Don't worry. I'm not locked out this time." He muttered, looking away again.

"H-hang on... I have some band aids on me at all times..." He mumbled, searching his pockets.

Craig raised an eyebrow, "you realise those things don't help, right? It just covers it until it becomes a scar. I'll be fine. I don't need your sympathy." He grumbled, annoyed.

Tweek stopped and looked at the ground, slightly embarrassed, "Oh... w-well, do you... wanna g-go get some coffee? I know a local place that allows animals." He said glancing at Stripe for a moment.

Craig paused for a moment, before shrugging, "Sure. I've no where else to be." He said, scooping up the guinea pig gently, before standing up from the bench, putting his phone in his pocket.

Tweek led him out of the park, to the coffee shop, which was surprisingly still open. Both of them walked in and sat down, they were the only customers, apart from a small group of Goths that didn't go to their school.

Craig glared at the Goths, flipping them off as he passed by.

"Well fuck you too, Craig." One of them replied, returning the sign, quickly followed by the others.

Tweek peered at Craig curiously, " you know them?" 

Craig gave a small nod, "they live in my town." 

About a minute after they sat down, a short, overweight woman waddled up to them, "What would you like?" She asked, in a voice slightly reminiscent of Cartman's.

Tweek smiled, "c-could I-ACK- get a light roast please?" He asked politely.

"Sure, Tweek, and you?" She asked pointing at Craig.

Craig's expression became slightly more irritated at that, but he quickly erased all hint of emotion from his face, "anything bitter, no milk, cream or sugar." He muttered, flatly.

The woman gave him a quick disapproving look before whispering to Tweek, "sometimes I worry about your choice of company." She whispered, before waddling away.

Tweek gave a small laugh one she was gone, "Were you trying to sound tough or something? You know nobody judges you on your coffee order, right?"

Craig narrowed his eyes, "No. I just enjoy it more when it's plain and boring. Sweet things are rather sickly and milk and cream get stuck in your throat." He growled, gently stroking Stripe's back.

Their coffee arrived in around ten minutes and they both finished quite quickly and stood up to leave, handing the money to the employee at the counter.

They both walked to Tweek's house, talking idly as they went. Once they reached the end of the driveway, they parted ways, uttering a brief farewell before Craig carried on down the road to his own home.

Tweek walked up to the door, the moment he entered, his dad burst out in noise,

"Tweek! Where have you been?! You left your phone here and missed dinner!" Richard Tweak yelled, the anger in his voice mixed with worry.

Tweek glared at his dad, proud of his direct rebellion against him, "I went for a walk around the lake and ran into Craig. He had his guinea pig with him, so we went down to that coffee shop down the road that lets pets in and got coffee together." He said, confidently.

A look of disgust and annoyance fixed itself onto his father's face, "That horrible Satan spawn bully? You need better friends. And you're grounded for disobeying me."

"I'm nearly Seventeen and you're grounding me for being civil with the school's top student, just because he leads a group of bullies and has mismatched eyes?! Grow up, dad! We're all human, we all have flaws!" He yelled, before retreating to his room, angered by his dad.

'He can't prevent me from talking to a potential friend, even if Craig is a bully, he doesn't deserve to be forced into solitude...' Tweek thought, furiously. He eventually calmed himself and fell asleep, vowing to not listen to his father's commands.


	3. A potential friend

Tweek arrived at the bus stop the next morning, disappoint to see that Craig wasn't there. He noticed the odd looks he was receiving from the other people waiting for the bus, particularly some of the girls, leaving him extremely confused and unnerved. The moment the bus arrived at bus stop, he got on as quickly as possible, before going straight to the back corner.

Trembling fiercly, he felt several people watching him, whispering. When he overheard someone a few seats away, whispering his name to a friend, he shrank into the corner, anxiety flooding his mind. Even when he got off the bus, the whispers seemed to follow him all the way to the class, but just as he reached the door, he was confronted with a semi-familiar group.

"Tweek! What the hell did you do to get everyone talking about you?" Stan asked, his tone laced with taunting.

"I d-don't know-ACK! What are they s-saying?" He said nervously.

Kyle looked at him, from Stan's side, frowning, "You really don't know?"

"NO! Wh-what's- ACK- what's going on?!" He asked, stressing over the situation.

"Everyone thinks that you and Craig are-" Stan was interrupted by an annoying voice.

"- that you and Craig are a pair of fags!" He jeered, with a laugh, not stopping, even when Kenny hit him over the head.

Tweek let out a small screech of shock, " What?! Why!?" He yelled.

Kyle shrugged, "Apparently because they saw you at the bus stop saying you were sorry about something your dad said, which meant he was probably at your house and then you sat beside him on the bus and then he stopped Clyde, Token and Jimmy from beating you up." 

Tweek was shaking nonstop, "he was locked out and I invited him over because it's the nice thing to do and my dad said that his eyes were a sign of the devil! He said he only stopped them due to 'moral obligation', as a thanks for me helping him out! We aren't even friends! Why do people do this?!" He explained loudly, suddenly feeling very glad that no one had seen them getting coffee yesterday, who knows what they would've thought up. Not that he didn't enjoy Craig's company, he would like having him as a friend, but he didn't like him like _that._

'Then what was that odd feeling in your chest when he was hurt? Why do you like being around him?' 

A small voice in the back of his head whispered, before he shook away the thought.

'I'm not gay and I don't like Craig.' He thought confindently, deciding to instead focus on the lesson.

At lunch, he caught sight of Craig's gang glaring at him from the corner, muttering between themselves. He looked away quickly, returning to his food, awkwardly. 

Tweek felt slightly disappointed that, by the time the five minute bell rang, Craig hadn't appeared, even his gang looked partially worried.

He went to his final lesson, wondering what had happened to Craig. When he walked into his class, he noticed the ripple of whispers that spread though the class, he felt a sudden anger and irritation with the rumours and other students.

Despite his desire to start yelling, Tweek just sat down, seething with anger, as he glared at the student beside him.

The English teacher, Mr. Hall, came into the class, looking slightly concerned, "alright class, before we begin though, has anyone seen Mr. Tucker? He hasn't been in school today and the faculty are quite worried." 

Tweek began trembling and twitching, due to a mix of fury and anxiety, when his classmates all turned to look at him, as if they thought he knew where he was.

"Why don't you ask the spaz? Since he's all buddy-buddy with the kid that attacked almost everyone in this room!" Someone yelled bitterly from the back of the classroom.

"Now, now. We are aware of what Craig does, but we aren't able to do anything, so there's no point in making a fuss. Tweek, do you know where he is?" The teacher asked, an underlying worry lingering in hi

Tweek let out a small scream, "NO! W-we aren't even friends! I just want everyone to shut up! Just shut up!" He yelled pulling on his hair anxiously, appreciating the few student who looked away guiltily, ashamed that they stress him out so much.

"Calm down, Tweek. I'm sure everything will be fine. If no one has seen him we can continue the lesson." Mr. Hall said, reasonably, before starting to teach.

Tweek found himself itching to get out of the class as quickly as possible, constantly fidgeting and checking the clock. The moment the bell rang, he darted from his seat and out of the room, quicker than anyone else.

Boarding the bus, he sat down at the back, shaking profusely, staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the, now familiar, blue chullo hat, although it never appeared. As the bus filled up and left, he wished that the time would pass faster. 

When he finally arrived at his stop, he darted to his house, dropping his bag by the front door, before leaving again, to search for Craig. He first went to the lake, but the was no sign of the grumpy senior, even after two more laps. He then returned to the streets, checking every alley he passed, hours going by horrifically slow. His breathing and heartbeat grew faster as the time wore on, the sun setting over the horizon, plunging the town into an artificial light.

Tears welling in his golen-green eyes, he went back to the park, pausing at the gate to look up at the sky, where stars now dotted the void above. He began to walk toward the bench, nearly all hope gone, barely holding back his tears.

As he followed the path through the shrubs, he looked up and there, a few metres away, was Craig, sat on the bench idly. Tweek instantly ran at him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, crying

Craig writhed out of his grip, whipping around to see who it was, his eyes narrowed coldly. His expression relaxed slightly, returning to it's normal emptiness, as he noticed that Tweek was crying.

"Tweek? Why are you upset?" He asked, although he sounded as if he couldn't care less.

"Where have you been all day?! I've been searching for hours! I was terrified that you'd been k-killed!" Tweek cried, wiping his eyes with his sleeves.

"I've been home? Apparently my dad caught wind of this rumour going around school that I was gay. Even though both him and I knew it was absolute bullshit, so he kept me out of school today because his redneck asshole friends wanted to try and murder me, or something along those lines. One of them tried, but I ended up kicking his back in." Craig explained nonchalantly, pointing to a thin line on his neck, where someone he tried to slit it.

Tweek began shaking and twitching uncontrollably, "I-I thought your dad hated you? And why would they want you d-dead?!" He asked sitting on the bench beside him, staring into his eyes.

Craig shrugged, "Eh... we don't get along very often, but it isn't too bad. Afterall who doesn't get drunk from time to time, especially if their spouse and youngest child died. He may be a bigoted, homophobic lying peice of shit, but almost everyone is. And his friends are insane Catholic rednecks and they hear a rumour of someone being gay, what do you expect?" He muttered, his voice still it's usual deep, nasally monotone.

Tweek sniffed, wiping his tears, "Oh... I thought you should know... uh... th-the rumours... th-they think that you and I are... y'know... together." He mumbled hesitantly, afraid of Craig's reaction.

"Really? Huh. No wonder they say I have best marks, everyone in the school is bat shit crazy." He said, a hint of jest in his voice.

Tweek laughed quietly, "glad to see you're okay. You realise that Mr.Hall delayed the lesson to ask the class if any had seen you. It was horrible sitting through that lesson after I knew you hadn't been seen all day! Even your gang looked really worried!" He said, his voice still shaky.

Craig rolled his silver-blue eyes, "well don't. We aren't even really friends. You don't have to worry about me." He muttered, narrowing his eyes at Tweek slightly.

A disappointed look fell across Tweek's face after the second sentence, "Oh... would you... would y-you like to be friends?"

Craig looked at him bitterly, " we aren't friends. Friends are just burdens. " He grumbled after a few seconds of thinking, his eyes blank as he turned to look out over the lake, leaning back against the bench, looking partially irritated.

Tweek looked to the ground, a small sadness to his eyes, he had been partially hoping that Craig would want to befriend him. It was then, that he came to a realisation,

'Oh fuck.' He thought, hit with a sudden dread, 'if they went for Craig because of the rumours, then they might be after me as well!'

Craig glanced at him suspiciously, noticing the sudden shift in mood,

"You alright, Tweek?" He asked, his face blank as he turned to face the blonde.

"Uh, y-yeah! I'm fine.... I'm just worried that they might come for me as well, since the rumours were about both of us." He mumbled, looking to the ground, embarrassed.

Craig shrugged, "I doubt it. Pretty sure that they were using that as an excuse anyway, most people here have a personal vendetta against me." He said, looking up at the sky, calmly.

Tweek peered at him curiously, "w-why does everyone hate you so much?"

Craig rolled his eyes, "Well it'd probably be the fact that I've most likely beaten them up, or one of their kids, at some point in time. You'll be fine." He said, almost comfortingly, despite his desolate expression.

Tweek frowned, "Why do you do it then? Bully people? If it means that you get attacked, and just in general?"

Craig went silent, refusing to look at him, staring at the night sky, his face completely blank. Tweek stared at him, curiously, wondering what the tall, melancholic senior wasn't telling him.

"Why do you beat people up when they aren't even bothering you?" He pressed on, wanting an answer.

To his surprise, Craig swiftly shoved him away, standing up, "I don't have to tell you anything. Fuck off." He hissed, iclily, though his anger didn't show through his voice. Quickly turning away, he began stalking back towards his house, leaving Tweek alone in the park.

Craig paused at the front of his house, before walking around the side, to the back garden. He clambered up a large maple tree, until he reached a platform. Once he was stood on the wooden planks, he walked into a wooden treehouse, mostly hidden by the red leaves of the tree. Closing the door, he turned on a heater, before locking the door in place with a chain.

Sitting down on his bed, he held his face in his hands, letting out an irritable groan. He pulled two carrots from a bowl beside a large guinea pig pen, putting them down to stop the squealing coming from both Stripes. He lay down on his bed, unable to sleep once again, despite his fatigue.

Craig sighed, staring at the ceiling, mulling over the events of the day.

"Good thing that little spaz bought the 'Catholic rednecks' story... would have been good, if he didn't keep asking questions..." He muttered aloud, thinking to himself.

Tweek arrived home at around Eleven, when his parents were already asleep. He snuck into his room, a deep sorrow in his eyes. Terrified that he had just erased any prospect of befriending Craig, just because he was too nosy about his personal life.

Taking out his phone to check his social medias, he wondered whether Craig had any accounts. He searched his name, but no account appeared. The only thing that came up, were many posts from Clyde, photos of him with the rest of Craig's gang.

Tweek pressed on a video, to see a very drunk Clyde filming some kind of house party, yelling greetings to his followers. The camera then turned to Jimmy, who was trying to tell a joke, but kept stuttering, stumbling and hiccuping from what he would guess to be chugging alcohol. It then turn to Token who was flirting with his girlfriend, Nichole, appearing not as wasted as the others, but still drunk.

Finally, it turned to Craig, who was sat in a corner, on his phone, the only one in the building who looking completely sober. When Clyde yelled his name, telling him to do something for a video, Craig didn't even look up, instead downing what was left in his can of cider, and crushing the empty can against his head, causing a minor cut to begin bleeding, before flipping off the camera, which was where the footage ended. 

Tweek scrolled down from the video, looking at Clyde's other posts with Craig, as well as a few from Token and Jimmy. Almost all of the photos with Craig, included him flipping off the camera, his face blank. Tweek eventually found a video of Craig, who looked around 15, holding someone slightly older up above his head. The older teen was screaming, begging to be put down, apologising for something, but ended up being thrown against a wall, with Craig yelling profanities at him. But just before the video ended, Tweek noticed a crying little girl rush toward Craig, where he patted her on the head comfortingly.

'Was that his sister? Was that kid bullying her?' Tweek thought, curiously. He decided that that was when he should stop intruding on a near stranger's life. Putting his phone away, he quickly fell asleep, awaiting the morning.

When he arrived in school the next day, he couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge the whispers, instead he headed straight for his English class, which he was beginning to hate. Tweek sat down in his chair, tired, but still twitching and shaking as usual.

Mr. Hall stood at the front, after walking in hurriedly,

"Alright. Did anybody see Craig last night and find out why he wasn't in?" He asked, his eyes skimming over the class.

Tweek sighed before raising his hand, "I found him at the park. He said that some rednecks heard a rumour that he was gay and tried to attack him, so his dad made him stay home." He said irritably, noticing the ripple of guilt that seemed to spread over the majority of the class.

"Ah. Well unfortunately that's to be expected." The teacher muttered, before beginning the lesson.

When the lunch bell rang after block four, he walked out of his class and headed for his usual spot. To his horror, when he reached the area, he saw Craig, slamming someone into the wall repeatedly, as they screamed, flailing helplessly. He saw Craig's gang coming up a few metres away, coming to help him.

Tweek shuddered, as Craig threw the younger student to the ground, watching as they skidded on the concrete, grazing their face heavily on one side, blood pooling in the wound.

Tweek ran forward, unable to stand watching the violence, " Stop it Craig!" He pleaded, looking up to meet Craig's, cold, empty mismatched eyes.

Craig didn't respond, he just directed the attack onto Tweek, while the other student managed to scramble away. Shoving Tweek harshly in the shoulder, causing the much small teen to fall to the ground, looking terrified.

Craig's gang appeared at his side, looking down at the blonde, sneering. Tweek tried to stand up, but found his feet being swept out from beneath him, making him fall down again, getting winded. He heard laughing coming from everyone but Craig, who just glared at him, icily.

The bullies proceeded to beat him until he was bleeding and bruised, which was when the bell rang and they went on to their classes. Tweek managed to look up, wiping tears from his eyes, to see that a small crowd had formed nearby, watching in shock, some laughing. After about a minute, he stood up and began limping towards the school nurse, wincing in pain.

At the end of the day, he noticed that the whispers on the bus had stopped, now it was the regular friendly chatter between students, with a few shooting him an occasional glance. 

Tweek arrived at his house, dropping his bag by the door, before heading upstairs. After a few minutes, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Hey Tweek? I heard that you were bullied at school today, by one of seniors and a few juniors?" Richard Tweak asked, opening the door slowly.

Tweek looked up, twitching, "Oh... uh, yeah..." He mumbled.

"Was it because of this rumour I heard... that you're gay? Is that true?" He asked gently.

Tweek shrieked, "NO! I'm not gay, dad! People at school are just idiots! Th-they look for any reason to start rumours! Craig and I aren't even friends, he was he one who beàt me up!" He yelled, annoyed.

His dad narrowed his eyes, "Craig? That horrible boy who was here a couple night's ago? People think you two are together and he beat you up?!" He seethed.

Tweek groaned, "yes. Now can you please leave me a-alone?" He muttered, returning to his phone, as his dad slammed the door behind him, irritated.

After a few hours he was called down to eat and once he was done, he went straight back upstairs, getting it sleep earlier than usual.

The next day, the day went by normally, he was glad that he didn't have English. At lunch, he saw something extremely odd.

Tweek was sat in his usual spot when Craig and his gang walked out of the main building. He looked up in surprise as he saw Clyde hanging off Craig's shoulder's, laughing, with Craig seeming a bit confused and annoyed.

"The fuck do you want Clyde?" He grumbled, glaring at him, stumbling slightly, he looked slightly disoriented.

"Dude! It's your birthday! Try to smile for once, huh?" Clyde laughed, letting go of his friend, grinning.

"What? It is? Fuck." Craig muttered, rubbing his eyes, he looked extremely tired, with slight bags under his eyes.

Jimmy laughed, "Y-y-yeah. How could you f-forget something like th-that? It's you're ei-eight-eighteenth birthday, for f-fucks sake!"

Craig paused, looking at Jimmy, "Oh fuck. I'm eighteen today? Shit." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Haven't you celebrated at all? Most people do." Token asked, a slight concern in his tone.

"Eh. No point. It isn't important. I don't care to celebrate." He said, almost bitterly.

Tweek watched them curiously, they almost seemed like normal friends, instead of a group of bullies.

Clyde gave Craig a sad look, "Why not? It's fun!"

Craig narrowed his eyes, shoving his friend away, "that's none of your business. And no. It isn't fun. It's fucking annoying, having people fuss over you." He muttered, suddenly angry with them.

'Huh. Maybe he just gets angry when people ask personal questions? Maybe he doesn't really hate me...' Tweek thought, as he watched from the bench.

Craig walked away from his friends, as they sat down to eat, disappearing behind a building.

Clyde glanced around at his friends, once Craig was gone, "...hey... have any of you seen Craig... eat... recently?" He said, his tone thick with concern.

Tweek narrowed his eyes when he heard that, he walked around the area, avoiding Craig's gang. He rounded the building, to see Craig leaning against the wall, holding his face in his hands.

Tweek walked over silently, unable to see his face past his hands and the flaps of his hat. He gently put his hand on the senior's shoulder, standing beside him.

Craig flinched, instantly standing up straight, his hands by his sides, "What do you want, Tweek?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes, exaughsted.

When he looked up, Tweek froze, he had a large, ugly wound from the base of his neck, disappearing beneath his shirt.

Tweek's eyes went wide with shock, horrorified by the sight,

"Dude... what the fuck is that?!"


	4. Wounded

Craig froze, narrowing his eyes, his quickly pulled on the tassels of his hoodie, hiding the wound.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." He grumbled, looking at the floor, his hands in his pockets. His eyes were dark and dull, empty as usual.

Tweek glared at him, "no. It isn't nothing. How did it happen?" He asked, sternly, trembling.

Craig looked down at Tweek, "you don't need to know that." He muttered, quietly. Tweek paused, thinking, before he quickly punched Craig in the chest, where he assumed the wound would be.

Craig stumbled back, grabbing his chest in pain, a small patch of blood showing through his hoodie.

"Dude! The fuck was that for? You made it start bleeding again! Fuck." He hissed, irritated.

"Oh shit... I'm really sorry. I d-didn't think that I would make it worse. But you need to get that checked. It's clearly not good." Tweek said, guiltily, stepping towards him.

Craig shook his head, "it's fine... Just leave me be." He mumbled, with a sigh.

"Craig, you need to get that checked. I-it could get infected!" Tweek yelled, frustrated.

Craig shook his head, "No. It isn't that bad. Just stop trying to help me." He muttered, slightly annoyed. Turning away, he began walking away, off school campus, slouching slightly. He glared down when he saw Tweek following him,

"I said leave me be, spaz. Don't you need to go to class?" He growled, narrowing his mismatched silver-blue eyes.

"D-don't call me that!" Tweek shouted, "and no, I'm not gonna let you walk away with a bleeding wound, because you seem to be an injury magnet and I don't want you to end up dead! Besides, how could I trust someone who doesn't even remember it's his eighteenth birthday!"

Craig groaned, "I'm not going to die for quite a long time, hopefully. Just go to class. I need to skip, so I can try to stop the bleeding. Piss off." He muttered, quickening his pace.

Tweek looked up at him, confidently, "I'm not leaving until you at least bandage that cut.

Craig sighed, "fine. I'm going home. If you want to follow me, then go ahead." He mumbled quietly, his hands in his pockets.

After a long walk, they reached Craig's house, a small distance from the rest of the town. They walked up the driveway, but just before they reached the door, Craig turned to walk around the side of the house.

"...aren't you going inside your house?" Tweek asked, confused.

Craig shook his head, "I don't go inside the house very often. Only for food, really." He said quietly, opening the gate at the side of the building. He walked through, locking it behind Tweek, before walking through, making a b-line for the maple tree.

Craig jumped up to the first branch, climbing up the tree, struggling slightly more than usual, due to his wound. He hauled himself onto the platform, before looking down, to see Tweek trying to climb up, but failing miserably.

Craig sighed, before leaning over the edge of the platform, holding his hand out to Tweek, "here. I'll help you up." He mumbled, irritably.

Tweek smiled, taking his hand, scrambling up the tree, with Craig pulling him up, "th-thanks." He said, out of breath, as he collapsed onto the wood.

Craig shrugged, "No problem, spaz." He muttered, standing up and brushing off his blood stained hoodie. Walking to the door of the hut, he unlocked the door and wandered towards his guinea pigs, briefly checking their food and water.

"Oh. Are those your guinea pigs? They're adorable!" Tweek said, smiling brightly, looking over his shoulder.

Craig nodded, "yep. They're guinea pigs." He sat down on his bed, taking off his hoodie and throwing it over the back of his bed. He sighed, leaning against the wooden wall, taking his hat off, for the first time that Tweek had seen in the entire time he knew him. He ran a hand through his stygian black hair, pushing it out of his face.

Tweek looked at him, "uh, what's that on your shirt? 'Slipknot'?" He asked, curiously, peering at the strange logo on the front.

Craig shrugged, "just a metal band." He said, nonchalantly, putting his hat down on a desk in the corner.

Tweek paused for a moment, "d-do you have any bandages or a first aid kit for that cut?" He asked.

Craig groaned, before reaching underneath his bed and pulling out a first aid kit. He opened it and put it on his bed, taking out the bandages, a needle and stitches. 

Tweek let out a small shriek, when Craig suddenly pulled off his shirt, revealing a heavily scarred, muscular chest, with several fresher wounds, all crudely stitched closed, as well as the large cut, that was still bleeding.

"Dude! Don't j-just do that all of a sudden!" He yelled, covering his eyes, his face burning red.

"Calm down. Who cares? We're both dudes." He said calmly, getting the stitches ready.

Tweek grumbled to himself, before looking up at Craig, embarrassed, "how come you have so many injuries?"

"None of your business, spaz." Craig muttered, before sitting upright, beginning to suture the wound shut, causing extra bleeding, wincing the first few times the needle peirced his skin, but eventually grew used to it.

"...do you need any help? How do you know how to do that?" Tweek asked, twitching.

"No. I'm fine and you'd probably fuck up with all your shaking. And I've done this countless times, I know what I'm doing, tiny." Craig sighed, as he finished with the sutures. He quickly wrapped a bandage over the wound, before taking a new shirt out of a drawer and putting it on.

"ACK-D-don't call me tiny! ARGH!" He yelled, angrily, glaring up at the senior.

"CRAIG!"

Thomas Tucker yelled up at the tree, sounding frustrated. Craig groaned in annoyance,

"The fuck you want, asshole?!" He shouted back, irritably.

"Why'd you skip school?! Get down here or I'll beat your ass!" Craig's dad yelled.

"FUCK OFF! I got someone here with me! Cut started bleeding, couldn't be bothered to deal with people." Craig responded, loudly, anger clear in his voice.

Tweek shuddered at the hostility in Craig's face and between the two family members. It went silent outside and he relaxed slightly.

"You really hate each other that much?" Tweek murmured quietly, looking at the grumpy senior.

"Eh. I suppose..." Craig muttered, "do you wanna go now? Since the reason you followed me here was because you thought I wouldn't sort out that cut? You can go anytime you want, tiny." He said calmly.

"Argh! Stop calling me that!" Tweek barked back, annoyed.

Craig looked up at him, his odd eyes displaying a faint amusement, that Tweek hadn't seen in them before, "Why? It's hilarious how worked up you get over something so trivial. I mean, I've told Clyde on multiple occasions that it's his fault his mum's dead and the worst he ever reacted is by crying- don't even ask how she died, you don't want to know." He added, almost inaudibly.

Tweek narrowed his eyes, "it isn't funny! Just because you're a literal giant, doesn't mean I'm a midget!"

Craig rolled his eyes, "alright, whatever you say, tiny." He uttered, teasingly.

Tweek glared at him, "STOP IT! Argh!" He yelled, pulling on his hair, in frustration.

Craig smirked, " y'know the more annoyed you get, the more amusing it is, right?" He taunted, his voice slightly warmer than usual, though still empty and dull.

Tweek looked at him in surprise, "Oh, so you are capable of looking at least partially happy?"

Craig rolled his eyes, the faint warmth still lingering in his monotone voice, "Fuck off, tiny. I'm not some kind of alien species, y'know."

Tweek narrowed his eyes, " are you sure about that? " he said in mock suspicion, but still smiling. He sat down beside Craig, on his bed, laughing.

Craig gave him a small smile, "yes. I'm pretty sure I'm not a galactic being." He let out a soft laugh, looking down at the blonde beside him.

Tweek's face went bright red as he looked up at Craig, the same heavy feeling from before lingering in his chest.

'Oh fuck. Why do I feel like this around him?! That smile is so adorable! Wait, that sounds really gay. I'm not gay and I don't like Craig... I think? Shit. I might like him. But he probably isn't gay. I didn't think I was! But if I like him... I've never really liked any girls... Fuck. I think I am gay. Which means I probably do like him. Oh no.' He thought in a sudden panic, stressing over the situation.

Craig prodded him in the shoulder, " Hey, you okay? You look off, tiny." He asked, his voice laced with a sincere concern, even if his face was desolate.

"I-I'm, uh, I'm fine..." Tweek mumbled, shaking with anxiety, as Craig seemed to study his face, trying to find out how he was feeling.

Craig narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "well, I know you're lying but I'm not gonna ask any questions, because I'd rather not know." He said, quietly. Standing up, he walked over to his guinea pigs, picking up the lilac tricolour and handing it to Tweek.

"Here. You can hold Stripe, if you want. I've found that holding them can help calm you down. Although I doubt anyone has ever seen you calm." He muttered, teasingly.

Tweek smiled at him, taking Stripe #7 from his hands, "and I doubt a-anybody's seen you smile before, but you did." He taunted.

Craig shook his head, "I used to be much happier back in fourth grade, most of my immediate friend group have seen me smile. But I don't see why it matters so much to see someone smile." He stated, idly.

Tweek laughed, looking down at the guinea pig, smiling. He ran a hand down it's spine, feeling it's smooth, well groomed fur. After several minutes, he put it back into its run, feeling content.

Craig leaned against the side of his desk, resting his chin on his hand, calmly, looking at the floor, thinking. Tweek sat down beside him, watching him curiously.

Craig glanced at him, before reaching beneath his bed, taking out two cans of cider, "You want one, tiny?" He asked, looking at him.

Tweek glared at him, "dude! We aren't meant to drink alcohol!" He said sternly, narrowing his eyes at the senior.

Craig rolled his eyes, "oh, fuck off. Who cares? I've gotten wasted plenty of times. You dont gave to have one if you don't want to though." He said dismissively, opening one of them and taking a swig.

Tweek sighed, "fine. I'll try one." He muttered, taking the red can from Craig's hand and opening it.

Craig smiled, holding up his can, "cheers, tiny." He said before taking a long drink. Tweek took a small sip, before cringing in mild disgust.

"How can you drink this kind of stuff like water?" He inquired, peering at Craig.

Craig laughed gently, "You don't like it? You more of a beer person, larger or ale maybe?" He said, tauntingly.

Tweek shook his head, " I don't like alcohol in general." He muttered, putting the can down.

Craig rolled his eyes, taking another drink, "then why'd you take it? Not like I'm gonna throw you off the tree just 'cause you don't drink, tiny." He stated with a laugh.

Tweek frowned, "Stop calling me tiny! And I thought I'd try it since I haven't had cider before." He said indignantly, glaring at him.

Craig shrugged, "nope." He downed the last of his drink, bending the can to make a hole in the side, to finish the last of it. Then he smashed it against his head, causing a small cut on his forehead, bleeding slightly.

Tweek shrieked loudly, "Don't do that! Now you're bleeding again, you absolute idiot!"

Craig paused, touching the small cut on his head and studying the smear of blood on his finger, "huh. Yeah. That usually happens. Doesn't hurt. No need to worry."

Tweek narrowed his eyes, before turning to the first aid kit, taking out an antiseptic wipe. He glanced at Craig, making sure he wasn't looking. Swiftly, he wrapped an arm around Craig's neck, trying to clean his wound.

Craig glared him, shoving him away easily, "Get off me! I said I'm fine!" He hissed in his usual monotone, . He stood up, backing away from the blonde, his mismatched eyes still dull and near lifeless, with an underlying fury.

Tweek let out an alarmed squeal, "c-calm down! I'm just trying to help you!"

Craig sighed, "I know. But I can do it myself. Please just tell me to do it myself next time you want to help. I don't appreciate people invading my personal space, okay?" He said, the fury evaporating from his eyes as he relaxed again.

Tweek noticed movement in his peripherals and shrieked in horror when he saw a giant house spider wrapping a small moth in silk.

"Why is that thing in here?!" He asked, backing away, fearfully.

Craig smirked, walking up to the web and getting the spider to crawl onto his hand, "it's kind of a pet. Why? Are you scared of spiders?" He said with a laugh, moving closer to Tweek, with the arachnid in his palm.

Tweek glared at him, "yes! They're creepy! Why would you keep it as a pet!?" He yelled, angrily.

Craig smiled, "I like them. They aren't deadly and just stay put, not bothering anyone. There are several new born wolf spiders as well. I found a female in the wild, brought her here and a few days later I saw her with a bunch of hatchlings on her back. I used to have a pet damon diadema, tailess whip scorpion, but it died of old age a few weeks ago." He said, almost fondly, as he watched te spider crael around for a bit, before returning it to its corner.

Tweek stared at him, noticing how the, usually near silent, senior could go on and on about a subject he liked, once you got him talking. As he sat there, smiling, he sighed,

'Alright. I'm definitely gay, and I definitely like him.' He silently admitted to himself, coming to terms with the fact, as he watched Craig gently put the delicate creature away, focused on keeping it alive, before sitting down again.

Craig looked at the door of the tree house, "oh. It's pretty dark outside. Do you have a curfew to get back by, tiny? Your parents might be worried about you."

Tweek shrugged, "I'm supposed to check in with them by five, but since I'm already getting a lecture, what harm is there in staying a while longer? Not like I have school tomorrow, considering it's Friday." He said, "are you doing anything over the weekend?"

Craig paused, "I'm probably gonna go up to the mountains and look for some caves to camp in. I do it almost every weekend. But the best place to go to England, around Devon and Dartmoor. It's almost mystical. And the folklore is amazing, with things like the Hound Of Baskerville. And the Norse Væsen fit into the landscape. I plan to move there, once I'm done here." He said, wistfully.

Tweek smiled, "that sounds pretty interesting! Do you go by yourself?"

Craig nodded, "it's fun to just escape civilisation and try to survive in the wild with nothing but the things around you. It gives me time to think and be in solitude. I don't think my friends even know where I go, they've never asked, probably just assume im avoiding them." He mutted, with a gentle laugh, looking at the ground.

"Would you like for them to go with you?" Tweek asked curiously.

Craig thought for a moment, before answering, "maybe Token would be okay... Clyde and Jimmy are too loud, they'd scare away any wildlife. But I don't trust them not to leave litter or disturb the ecosystem, so I suppose it's better to go alone, so I can control exactly what gets left behind, without having to pick up after one of those assholes." He smiled down at Tweek, his silver-blue eyes flicking towards him, "what about you? Are you doing anything?"

Tweek shook his head, with a sigh, "nope. Probably just gonna stay home, maybe go out to the park a few times..." that was when a 'brilliant' idea popped up in his mind, " Would it be okay if I went with you?" He asked, hopefully.

Craig paused, his expression turning almost guilty as he looked away, "uh... sorry. But you probably wouldn't enjoy it that much, anyway. My dad made me sign up for military training when I was sixteen, and I've been doing this almost my entire life. You probably don't have the experience to try something like this. You need to get used to camping in bad weather, on bad terrain, first. I like to have a challenge. And if it's a challenge for me, then you'd probably get left behind." He mumbled, apologetically.

"I've camped before! I won't get left behind!" Tweek responded indignantly.

Craig raised an eyebrow, "have you made a fish trap? Used maggots to keep infection from your wounds? Had to snap a dislocated joint back into place? Eaten a skunk?" He asked, almost tauntingly.

"The only partially normal thing you just said is making a fish trap. Have you really done all of that on your trips?" Tweek asked, grimacing.

Craig nodded, "maggots eat the decaying flesh in a wound, deterring infection, especially when combined with marigolds. It's easy to dislocated something in the rocks. And skunk meat is a bad as it's spray, the heart's good though, brain is buttery."

Tweek narrowed his eyes at Craig, "okay. I get the point. You have officially deterred me from camping."

Craig laughed, "sorry. Maybe next weekend I can go for an easier route and you can come then, if you still want to." He said, with a small smile.

Tweek beamed at him, "sure! I'm almost never doing anything, so all I'd have to do is make up a fake excuse to tell my parent, because they absolutely hate you, for some reason."

Craig glanced at him, "You shouldn't lie to your parents." He muttered.

Tweek smiled, "says the one that yelled at his own dad to 'fuck off' " he teased.

Craig shrugged, "fair point, tiny, but fuck you." He said, holding up both of his middle fingers.

Tweek glared at him, "Arghhh... Why?!" He asked loudly, gesturing toward the seniors hands, irritably.

Craig laughed quietly, putting his hands down, his mismatched eyes bright with a rare amusement. Unfortunately, Tweek felt a heat rise to his cheeks at the sight and quickly looked away, to avoid Craig noticing.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' He thought, trying to will it away.

"Uh. You alright there, tiny? You look a bit hot." Craig said, a minor concern to his voice.

"Um... y-yeah! I'm good!" Tweek replied, Craig's remark not helping, "I... think I should start heading back home now, before it's completely pitch black outside."

Craig nodded, "sure. Do you need a light to get down the tree? I have an oil lantern and I know my way down." He quickly turned around, grabbing the lantern from beneath his desk.

Tweek smiled, "uh... sure. Thanks." He murmured quietly.

Craig lit the lantern, before opening the door to his hut and walking out onto the platform, Tweek following him close behind. He slipped the handle of the light over his arm, before jumping up, to grab a branch. Quickly getting a metre away from the edge of the platform, he looked to the ground, before letting go of the branch, eliciting a small screech of horror from Tweek. 

Once Craig landed on his feet, he looked up at Tweek, "alright. You can get down easiest towards your left." He called up, guiding the blonde down the tree, step by step, until he was stood beside him.

"Dude! Why did you jump off that branch? You could've gotten hurt!" Tweek muttered, sternly, glaring at him.

Craig rolled his eyes, "whatever. I don't care. C'mon, let's get you home." He said, flatly, with a mild smile.

Tweek sighed, walking beside the dark haired senior through the cold streets of the town. They talked idly, with Tweek looking up at him, smiled brightly, shaking slightly and Craig walking a few paces ahead, looking forward, deep in thought, glancing around suspiciously.

They eventually reached Tweek's house and paused at the end of the drive.

"Oh. Tiny. Hold on." Craig said, pulling a small slip of paper from his pocket, looking down at Tweek with a smile, "here's my phone number. In case you think someone need their teeth kicked in, or you just wanna chat. Anything, really. Shoot me a text whenever."

Tweek took the slip, beaming, "thanks! Although I don't think I need a hitman at the moment. I'll see you Monday!" He said, waving to Craig as he began to walk away.

Craig laughed, "see you then, tiny." He replied, before walking away, back home.


	5. After the weekend

The weekend felt like an eternity to Tweek, despite his attempts to make it go by faster, so that he could see his newfound 'crush' once again. He tried getting to sleep earlier each night, but the days still paused unbearably slow. He was relieved when Monday finally came, getting up and ready for school as quickly as he could.

When he reached the bus stop, though, he noticed that he was getting weird looks again. This time he decided to try his best to completely ignore it, not even looking at the others. The bus arrived in around ten minutes and Tweek sat down in his usual spot at the back, itching to get to school.

The bus eventually pulled up to the school, where a flood of students were walking up the hill, towards the building. Tweek looked around, feeling a tinge of disappointment when he couldn't see the familiar blue chullo, above the sea of students.

With a small sigh, he continued on to his class, passing through a secluded spot. Suddenly, he felt someone shove him in the back. 

Tweek turned around, half expecting Craig's gang, but instead, he saw a group of five strangers, glaring down at him, sneering menacingly.

Tweek backed away slightly, "wh-what do you want?" He asked, trembling.

"Why the fuck have you been hanging out with that Tyrant?! You realise he put both my sister and I in hospital one time?!" The leader yelled, angrily, holding out his phone, with a video open.

Tweek took the phone curiously, pressing play, to see a video of him outside of his house, with Craig looking down at him, smiling and handing him his number, before walking away with the lantern, his face going blank. The video ended and Tweek looked up to meet the furious glares of the students.

"You're angry because I'm... sort of, friends with Craig? He's actually a really nice person to be around, once you annoy him enough to make him give up trying to hurt you. Besides, why does it matter if we are friends? It shouldn't affect you at all." He said, handing the phone back to its owner.

"You think that menace is nice? You must be delusional! He doesn't deserve friends! What were you even doing with him?" One of the others shouted.

Tweek narrowed his eyes, "I was at his house, to make sure he was okay. I ended up staying for quiet a while because he's fun to talk to.... and he had pets." He muttered, looking at the ground.

"See! I told you that they're both dirty faggots!" Another person jeered.

Tweek suddenly found himself shoved to the ground, as the group ganged up on him, kicking and punching him, while laughing. Until suddenly, it stopped. 

Tweek opened his eyes, to see Craig, continuously smashing the leader's head against the wall, until he was near unconscious, before throwing him at his group, as they looked at him into terror. Craig lunged for the one closest to him, as they broke out in a fight, with a small crowd watching in alarm.

After quite a while, Craig managed to overpower the strangers, standing infront of Tweek, defensively, his gaze cold and sharp.

"You hurt my friends, and I'll fucking _hurt_ you" he snarled, with a menacing emphasis on the 'hurt', before glaring at the diminutive crowd, " and why don't you lot go ahead and fuck off?" The gathering and the bullies quickly left, whilst Craig turned to Tweek, holding out his hand to help him up.

"You alright, tiny? Do you need to see the nurse or something?" He asked, concerned, peering at Tweek, who had tears welling in his eyes.

Tweek wiped his eyes, "uh... yeah. Thanks. I should be okay. It wasn't that bad, thanks to you." He said, looking up to meet his mismatched eyes, with a slight smile. Craig studied his expression carefully, trying to detect any signs that he was lying, relaxing only when he was certain Tweek was okay.

"Good. Hopefully those kids won't bother you again, if they do... then I'll have to confiscate their breathing license." He said, with a soft laugh, smiling down at him.

Tweek beamed at him happily, relieved to see him again, almost enthralled by the unfamiliar warmth to the seniors eyes. "H-how was your trip? Did you find anything interesting?"

Craig shrugged, "there were a few interesting stones, I took a few for my collection. There's were also several skulls, that I've left out in the garden to dry the horns. But the weirdest thing was, pretty deep in one of the caves, I found an old human skeleton, so I left it in the tunnel and blocked up the entrance, so it wouldn't be disturbed." He recounted, quietly. 

Tweek glanced at him, "oh... that's... kind of odd... t-the skeleton, I mean, not you." He added, nervously.

"I suppose so... don't you need to get to your classes, though? You might be a bit late. Sorry. I'll see you later?" Craig asked

Tweek nodded, "definitely! S-see you then!" He said, before beginning to run towards his class.

It was at break, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, and checked who had texted him, surprised when he saw that it was from Craig.

'Hey, Tiny. Me and Stan's old friends are having a get together, after school. We were told we were allowed to invite one extra person. So I though I'd invite you. Considering you're my only friend who doesn't get the free pass. 

It's at that large house 14 doors up from you. If you end up coming, avoid the Fatass, he's fucking psychotic smoothbrain. Kenny will fuck anything with a pulse. Stan will make you depressed. Kyle will make you want to stab anyone giving a speech. Butters will give you hope for humanity. And my friends will most likely try to lynch you. It's up to you.' 

Tweek smiled at his phone, texting back,

'I'd love to go with you! What time?'

'Around six-ish. See you then.'

Craig responded, before putting his phone away and continuing his short walk around the school, before going to block three, chemistry.

During lunch break, he wandered to the usual meeting place for his group. Unfortunately, when he arrived, he saw Clyde, Token and Jimmy yelling at Tweek, angrily.

"Back off guys. Leave him alone." Craig called out to them, quickening his pace.

"But why? He's a liar! He's saying that video of you two outside his house is real!" Clyde said, looking up at him.

Craig shook his head, "no. It's real. Hes a friend. Leave him be." He said, almost sternly, staring at them blankly, before turning to Tweek, "You good, tiny?" He asked, helping him up from the ground for the second time that day.

"Y-yeah. Th-thanks, Craig." Tweek mumbled, a tinge of red emerging in his cheek.

"....well... I'll see you later on. C'mon guys. Let's go... and from now on, no more picking on Tweek, or I'll be forced to beat you up, like anyone else who harms my friends." Craig said, oblivious, as he began to walk away, not quite trusting his friends to leave him be.

"O-oh. Bye!" Tweek called after him, trying to ignore the dirty looks it earned him from Craig's friends.

"Why were you even together?" Clyde asked suspiciously, as they rounded a corner.

Craig glared down at him, "he was over at my house. He saw that I was injured at school and followed me home to make sure I fixed it. Then we had a drink and ended up chatting until dark, so I took him back to his house." He explained, monotone voiced as usual.

Clyde paused, "he was at your house? Even we don't know where you live now! How come he does?" He near yelled, sounding hurt and offended.

Craig rolled his eyes, "because you're all dicks?" He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing. After a while of talking, the bell rang and everyone headed back to their fifth and final block.

At the end of the day, a carpet of students flooded the halls as they ran from their classes, to get home. Tweek made his way across the campus, towards the coach park, following the normal routine.

When he arrived home, he couldn't help but feel excited, he ran upstairs, getting ready. He decided to wear clothes that didn't require buttoning up, so he could look somewhat decent, eventually picking out a navy blue short sleeve t-shirt.

Tweek went downstairs again for some coffee, checking the clock regularly.

"Tweek? You're dressed up nice. Where are you going?" Mr Tweak asked, curiously, peering at his son.

"ACK! I-uh- I got invited to a party. I know almost everyone there, so there's no need to worry." He responded, with a faint smile.

"Oh. How nice." His dad said, before walking away again. Tweek glanced at the clock: 5:47PM.

Quickly standing up, he walked out the door, smiling, but still nervous. He wandered up the street until he came upon the house Craig told him to go to. Stan was stood at the door, to welcome guests, looking slightly tired.

"Oh. Tweek? How are you? What are you doing here?" Stan asked, looking down at him.

Tweek paused, anxiously, "oh, C-Craig in invited me here..." He mumbled, trembling slightly.

Stan raised an eyebrow, "so you actually managed to befriend him? Huh. I thought he would've killed you, to be honest. Go on in. My friends are all here (apart from Kenny) and so are Wendy, Nichole and Token."

Tweek nodded, before walking in, to see Kyle and Cartman arguing in a corner and Token speaking with the two girls. Trying to avoid being noticed, he sat down on a chair, near a far corner, but unfortunately, the girl with purple clothing walked up to him, seeming friendly.

"Hey. I'm Wendy and that's Nichole over there. Who are you? I never saw you in South Park so you must know someone from there, who invited you?" She questioned, with a smile.

"O-oh. I-ACK- I'm Tweek. I-I was invited by Craig, since apparently all of his other friends would be coming already." He replied, nervously.

"Craig? Good luck with that. Wouldn't he just bully someone like you?" She asked, almost sympathetically.

"H-he did to begin with... but I annoyed him until he gave up trying to get rid of me. And now we're friends." Tweek said with a small smile.

"I see... well, I just wanted to say hi... maybe I'll see you in school. She said before walking away, returning to the other girl.

Tweek shuddered as more people began to arrived, he recognised Kenny, Clyde and Jimmy and was quickly introduced to Bebe and 'Butters', although there was no sign of Craig, which worried him.

After a while of people catching up, Bebe called for everyone's attention, "We're gonna play a game of truth or dare! Anyone who wants to play, sit in a circle in the middle of the living room!"

Tweek hesitated for a few seconds, before joining them, since there was nothing better to do. Everyone at the party joined the game, arguing about who'll go first.

"Alright. Kyle, truth or dare?" Stan asked, grinning.

"Dare." Kyle replied quickly.

"I dare you to down whatever shot I bring you." Stan said, with a laugh, before quickly going into the kitchen, returning minutes later with a horrific looking shot, handing it to Kyle.

He reluctantly drink it, grimacing and cough in disgust, "that is disgusting." He muttered after a while, cringing, earning a few laughs. 

"Ugh. My turn then. Truth or dare Kenny?" Kyle asked, glancing at him.

"Truth." Kenny said back, calmly.

"Uh. Which of our 'adventures' back in South Park did you find the most interesting?"

Kenny thought for a moment, before answering, "... probably when we took Craig's $100 to make that pan flute band, which then became outlawed. We got arrested. Put in Peru. And found out that Craig is in an Incan prophecy and could apparently laser eye a giant pirate guinea pig. That was... interesting. Mostly because Craig was trying to escape the drama. Which never works."

Tweek froze, "w-wait, what? How is that e-even possible-ACK?" He asked, confused.

"Don't question it. That's actually pretty normal for our town." Stan said dismissively.

"Okay... who to choose... Tweek, truth or dare?" Kenny asked with a mischievous smile.

Tweek began shaking, "ARGH! M-me?! U-uh... T-truth?"

Kenny grinned, "alright... what exactly do you think of Craig?" He asked.

Tweek froze, "c-craig? W-well, he's really nice to talk to... a-and just in general, even if he's a-a bit rude... he's my only friend at the moment. He has a lot of interesting things about him, like his hobbies, pets and personality, even if it's kind of weird. Even though my dad thinks he's some kind of satanic entity, mostly because of his mismatched eyes, I think he's genuinely a good person." He concluded, finding that a small heat had risen to his face, as he described his friend.

"...do you like him?" Token asked, catching him off guard.

Tweek let out a small scream, "ACK! What?! In what way?! What kind of question is That?! No! O-of course not... I'm... not gay. Ngghh..." He yelled, panicking with anxiety, but slowing down at the end, making sure they heard the lie.

They continued to play the game uninterrupted for an hour, when suddenly, the door burst open, to reveal Craig, holding a bag.

"Sorry I'm late. Owed someone a favour. Had to bust them out of detention." Craig explained flatly, walking through to put something in the freezer, before returning.

Looking at the circle, he gave them a question glance, "if you're trying to summon Satan, you're doing it wrong, don't even have any runes." He grumbled, irritably, sitting down in the darkest corner, to think.

"Hey pretty boy~" Kenny called out to him, flirtatiously, causing an unexpected pang of jealousy in Tweek. Craig remained silent, simply flipping Kenny off.

"Stop flipping people off!" Tweek yelled at him, partially joking.

Craig turned to look at him, before raising his middle finger to him as well, "nope. Sorry Tiny." He replied, blankly, before returning to his silence.

After a few moments, the game continued, with Wendy being the one to ask the questions.

"... Tweek... Truth or dare?" She asked.

Tweek sighed, "I'll go with dare this time, I suppose..."

"Alright. I dare you... to kiss Craig...properly, not just a small thing to the cheek.

." She said with a giggle.

Tweek screeched, his face going red, "wh-what?! No!" He yelled, horrified, scrambling away from the others.

Craig glared at them, "fuck off. I'm not playing. Leave me out of this shit show. I'm not nearly drunk enough for that kind of crap." He growled, angrily, seeming to receed further into the corner.

Tweek began shaking, with anxiety, "Uh. Craig isn't playing! N-new dare!"

"No! You have to do it! Every one else does as they're told! You agreed to play." Clyde yelled, grinning widely.

"Do it or I'll kick your ass!" Cartman added, laughing.

Tweek stood up, terrified, looking towards Craig to see that he had put headphones on, to block out the noise of the group. He walked over to him, his face burning red with embarrassment. 

Apparently his head didn't do too well when heavily blushing, because when he realised that he wouldn't be able to reach from where he was stood and from the side would be uncomfortable, so his head made the quick desicion to straddle the senior.

Tweek's green eyes met a blank, blue-grey for about a millisecond, before he closed his eyes, grabbing Craig's head and pulling him towards him, pressing their lips together. To his surprise, Craig didn't shove him away, in fact, didn't seem to react at all.

To much less of a shock, Tweek found himself enjoying it, making him forget that he was in a room full of people, when he went in to deepen the kiss, moving his hands down to Craig's neck, his lips moving passionately against Craig's, yearning for some kind of response, but never getting one.

After several seconds, he reluctantly stepped away from his crush, sitting back down in the circle, embarrassed that he had gotten carried away with it. He glanced at Craig and, though it was likely his imagination, he thought he saw a a slight redness to his face, as well as the tiniest smile, as he listened to his music, as if nothing happened.

Tweek looked at the others, who were staring at him in shock, "w-what's wrong? I did what you said to do!" He yelled defensively, trying to keep his face from staying red any longer.

"But... not like that..." Wendy mumbled awkwardly.

That was when Craig looked at her from his place in the corner, bitterly, "it is what you told him to do. And Cartman threatened to hurt him if he didn't. What did you think was gonna happen?

Clyde narrowed his eyes at him, "... you realise that you could have shoved him away, right?" He asked suspiciously.

Craig rolled his eyes, "are you fucking blind? You could easily see he was terrified of something, it would be immoral to try and give him a panic attack." He stated, checking his phone for a moment.

The game then continued, with everyone feeling a bit awkward. After about ten minutes, Craig randomly stood up and walked outside.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Clyde called after him, curiously.

Craig glanced back for a second before continuing, "I wanna go and set some shit on fire." He said, blankly, before leaving everyone inside, looking worried. After a while, the group followed him outside to see that Craig had made a moderate pile of logs and twigs in one corner and had lit a barbeque in the other.

Craig glared at the others, irritably, before grabbing some died grass and pulling his cigarette lighter from his pocket, lighting the main fire. He reached into the small bag he had brought with him and took out some kind of clear liquid: white spirit. Quickly, once the fire was more substantial, he tipped a cap into the flames, causing the fire to reach up into the air. Tweek looked at him, concerned, like the rest of the group.

The senior then walked over to the barbeque, before going back inside, to fetch something. The group sat down around the fire, talking calmly and laughing together.

13 minutes later, Craig called everyone over, 

"Anyone who wants burgers, hot dogs or Mediterranean pork, come over here and get it." He yelled, in a monotone, before pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it, before taking a drag. To his mild surprise, someone hit it away from him before he could do anything.

"... hey tiny." Craig sighed, looking down at him, his mismatched eyes dull.

"Is everything alright? You've been looking... off the entire time we've been here." Tweek asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just thinking. Plus most of the people here are bat shit crazy." Craig said, with a shrug.

"Alright... why did you just randomly cook for everyone, by the way? Usually people like to avoid being given all the work." He inquired, curiously.

Craig smiled down at him slightly, "I actually dont really know. I just enjoy barbeques, I guess. Fire in general is just nice to be around. It's relaxing." He murmured quietly.

Tweek laughed, "that's... a bit worrying, but okay, I can see why." He said, grinning. 

Craig gave a small laugh, "Don't worry. I won't be setting you on fire, tiny. Actually... wait here a minute..." He said before rushing towards the bag he brought, taking out a bottle and two cloths. He grabbed a medium sized branch and wrapped one of them around the branch, before dipping it into the animal fat.

Craig headed for the fire, lighting the torch, which was when Clyde spotted him.

"Holy shit! Guys, come watch this! Craig brought the paraffin oil again!" He yelled, excited.

Craig rolled his eyes and quickly damped the cloth, before standing far from the other flames. Once everyone had gathered, he opened the bottle of oil and took in a large mouthful, careful not to swallow or breathe it in. He quickly wiped his mouth, before holding the touch up in front of his face.

Craig blew the liquid over the flame, creating a large plume of fire. Everyone cheered loudly, before returning to their usual business.

The night carried on, with people laughing and smiling with each other, everyone performing their best party tricks, even after the fire burned out.

Tweek looked over at everyone else, shivering in the cold of the night. He froze when he saw Kenny approaching Craig, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, flirting, giving Tweek that sense of jealously again. To no surprise, Craig threw Kenny to the ground harshly, a stern irritation building in his eyes.

Most of the group turned to look as Craig glared down at Kenny, icily.

"Oooh~ Pretty boy can fight?" Kenny teased, leading to Craig kicking him in the side of the head, flipping him off as well, before walking back inside, furiously. 

It was about an hour later, when everyone else went back in, to see Craig back in the corner, listening to music, ignoring everything around him. After a short while, Tweek saw Clyde crying, while Token tried to comfort him, although it wasn't working.

"Uh. Is e-everything alright-ACK?" He asked, curiously.

"Yeah... Cartman just told the story about how he made Scott Tenorman eat his parents and it reminded Clyde of how his mom died." Token replied, not even looking at Tweek.

Craig looked up from the corner, moving his headphones off his head, "well of course it would. Cartman killed his own father, and Clyde killed his mother." He muttered, bitterly.

Kyle glared at Craig, "You say that as if you have a clean conscious. We all know that you were the one who encouraged your mom and sister to go to that concert!" He retorted, angrily.

Craig glanced at him, his face desolate and empty, "if you're trying to guilt trip me into sympathizing with that emotional wreck, it isn't going to work. I don't care that Tricia and my mom are dead. It doesn't matter." He growled, before returning to his music, going silent.

"You see Tweek? How could you think someone like that is nice? At least with Clyde, Jimmy and Token, even if they're bullies, they at least have a sense of guilt, remorse and positive emotions! And he calls Clyde the emotional wreck! Better be really emotional than a rude ball of anger and hate!" Wendy yelled at him, furiously.

"H-HEY! T-that's not true-ACK! " He responded, angrily.

"You're only saying that 'cause you have a boner for him. Craig is a dick, plain and simple." Cartman sneered.

"Wh-what?! I'm n-not gay! Why can't I just have a friend without being ridiculed?! Why? Why? WHY?!" Tweek yelled, in a anxious frenzy, pulling on his hair, catching Craig's attention.

"Calm down, tiny. What's wrong?" He asked, pulling off his headphones, a light concern to his voice.

"I-its nothing, Craig... just tired of being accused of stupid things." He said, with a small smile.

Craig paused for a moment, glaring at the others, before smiling warmly at Tweek, "I see... well, if you ever need a knife, I have plenty." He said, with a quiet laugh, before returning to listen to his music.

Tweek turned back to the group, whilst the others looked at them in shock, confusion and disbelief. They eventually collected themselves and returned to their previous activities: mostly tying to calm Clyde down, who had gotten worse after Craig's comments.

The house few cold as time passed, although no one seemed to notice, except Tweek, who was shivering. Craig noticed after a little while, tapping him on the shoulder gently,

"Hey, tiny. You look cold. Wanna borrow my hoodie?" He offered, his dull, silver-blue eyes meeting Tweek's bright green.

"Won't you be cold, though?" Tweek asked, feeling his chest flutter at the sight of Craig's eyes.

Craig smiled, "I don't really feel the cold. I only really wear a hoodie because it's comfortable." He explained, quickly unzipping his hoodie and taking it off, before handing it to Tweek. He froze when Tweek let out a small scream,

"Y-your arm! Why is it bandaged?!" He asked, looking terrified.

"Don't worry, tiny. It's fine. I slipped while in a cave over the weekend, got a cut in my arm. I've already treated it, so there's no need for panic." He explained gently, a comforting smile on his face.

"Oh... I though something worse had happened for a moment." Tweek sighed, relaxing, before putting on Craig's hoodie, sinking into the thick, warm fabric. It was too big, but he didn't mind, it smelled just like Craig and he found himself, huddling into it further, happily.

Once again, when he turned back to the group, he was met with looks of alarm, but this time he ignored it, distracted by the warm feeling in his chest, as he thought of Craig's eyes and smile, blushing slightly. 

The party eventually came to an end, and people began to leave, Tweek and Craig leaving together. As they passed Tweek's house, Tweek began to, reluctantly, take off the cozy, warm hoodie, but Craig stopped him.

"It's fine. Keep it for now. You can hand it back to me at school tomorrow. I'll see you then." He said, with a small smile, waving as he walked away.

Tweek beamed at him, "th-thanks! Bye!" He called after him, before walking back into his house. His parents were already asleep, so he went straight upstairs, his face slightly red.

He had an unusual fluttery feeling in his chest, as he got up to his room and took off the hoodie. Tweek sighed, after changing into his pyjamas, looking at the hoodie.

Tweek smiled as he picked it up, it was slightly tattered and worn down, navy blue in colour. He eventually got to sleep, hugging the hoodie, thinking about Craig.

The next morning, his dad shook him awake,

"Hey, Tweek... so... I have a question." He said slowly, "uh, this hoodie belongs to that bully kid right? Why was he over here and did you get drunk last night?"

Tweek rubbed his eyes, tired, "Craig? Y-yeah, that's his, and he isn't a 'kid', he turned eighteen last week. There was alcohol at the party, but only a few people had any. And Craig wasn't here, the house we were at didn't have good heating, so when the fire went out and we all went in again, the house was cold, so he let me borrow it and hand it back at school." He explained drowsily.

His father paused for a moment, before speaking, "Tweek... are you gay?"

Tweek froze, suddenly wide awake, he stared at his dad, weighing the options. Either lie to him and come out later, or tell him now and get it over with. He sighed, looking at the ground, "...yes... I'm g-gay. Please don't be mad." He mumbled, anxiously.

"I'm not mad. There's nothing wrong with it, but... do you like that 'Craig'? You've been hanging around him a lot..." he said calmly.

Tweek screeched, "wh-what?! Why does th-that matter?! That's personal! Why does everyone think that?!" He yelled, pulling on his hair, his face going deep scarlet.

His dad smiled, "is that a yes? If so, I'll try to be nicer to him, even if he is rude delinquent. I want to support you however you can, son." He said, slightly teasing.

Tweek looked up at him, "Oh... thanks, dad. I... didn't think you'd be okay with it... but y-you can't tell him! D-don't make it obvious, though! He can't know about it..." He responded, urgently.

"Why can't he know? I'm sure he wouldn't mind, even if he didn't like you. Does he do anything with you that he doesn't with anyone else?" His father asked, gently.

"Well... apparently I'm the only one he actually smiles at... but he's straight! He can't know because it would be awkward and might make him not want to be my friend anymore... although I guess at the party when I was dared to kiss him, it didn't make anything awkward." He mumbled, half to himself.

His dad laughed, "he was fine with you kissing him as a dare, and you still think he doesn't like you? It at least shows that he doesn't have anything against it. I think you should tell him. When you're ready. But you need to get ready for school now." He said, walking out of the door.

Tweek smiled, "thanks, dad."


	6. Insomnia

Craig woke up that morning in his tree house, momentarily wondering where his hoodie was. It was three in the morning. He groaned in frustration, at his inability to sleep, before getting dressed, and packing his bag.

Once he was done he sat down at his desk, where he had a hand made map of the nearby routes he had charted through the terrains, with a transparent plastic sheet over the top. Taking out a white board marker, he drew onto the plastic, trying to plan a route he could take next weekend, that Tweek would be able to cope with.

Craig eventually finished the quick sketch on the map, moving on to making a list of everything they'd need. It was four by the time he finished everything, and took a photo with his phone, before cleaning the plastic for the next use.

With a sigh, he sat down on his bed, holding his head in his hand, trying to clear his thoughts, 'What's been up with me recently? I can't think properly. Maybe it's just sleep deprivation.' He thought, rubbing his bagged eyes.

Craig quickly fed his guinea pigs, before waiting for one of the moths flying around the light to land, catching it, as carefully as he could. He grasped it by one wing, before dropping it into the web of the spider, to ensure it had a meal.

He checked his phone, to see a few missed calls from some of the people at the party, but when he pressed on the voice mails, the majority were just them yelling at him for being rude to Clyde. Rolling his eyes, he deleted them, irritated. So what if he upset him? What he said was true.

Craig thought back to the party, recalling the sheer boredom and annoyance it brought him, he wondered why he still went. That was when he remembered what had happened, shortly after he had arrived. He had been slightly surprised that Tweek had gone through with the dare, feeling sorry that he had been pressured into doing something by the group. That was the reason that he didn't react at all, he didn't want to send the tiny spaz into a panic attack.

Craig muttered to himself, trying to clear his head, by slamming it down onto the desk. After a while, he stood up, while the sky was only just beginning to pale. He opened the door and walked to the edge of the platform, before checking his bag, making sure he had everything and looking at his timetable.

Once sure he had everything, he just walked off the edge of the platform, falling flat on the ground, winding himself. A few moments after landing, he stood up and carried on, despite the difficulty to breathe, which eventually cleared.

Craig stopped at the park, going down to the water's edge. He sat down on a bench, looking out over the softly rippling water, his face blank. With a calm sigh, he lifted his necklace, to look at it. It was when he was staring at the pendant, that he noticed his reflection looked a bit too red.

Touching his face, he realised that he had grazed his face when coming down from the tree. That, paired with a small cut, leaking blood onto his face, made it look like he had been terribly wounded, despite the injuries being minor.

Craig paused, before deciding not to mess with it; he found it oddly amusing to see Tweek flail about over nothing. He quickly shook his head, he didn't want to think about Tweek, since that seemed to make his brain go completely blank of productive thoughts.

Awhile later, he set off for school, walking though the near empty streets, with untouched snow crunching beneath his feet. He arrived at around five, walking straight to his first class, waiting silently outside the door.

Eventually, his teacher arrived, carrying a large stack of books,

"Oh! Craig, can you open the door, please?" He asked, looking up at the taller student.

Craig glanced at him, before twisting the handle and returning to his thoughts. Once his teacher had put the books down, he came out again, to look at Craig,

"Why are you here so early? You realise school doesn't start for nearly... four hours, right?" He asked, curiously, trying to start a conversation. Craig simply glared at him, coldly, for a second, before flipping him off and looking away again.

He heard the teacher mutter something angrily, before retreating back into the class, leaving Craig alone. Standing in solitude, he waited for the class to begin, leaning against the wall, silently.

His day passed by without him saying a word, not seeing any of his friends, including Tweek, to his mild disappointment. It was when he was walking home, that he saw Tweek on the streets, looking sad.

"Hey, tiny. You alright?" Craig asked, walking over to him, his face blank.

Tweek's expression instantly brightened, as he heard his voice, but it went dark with worry when he saw Craig's face.

"W-what happened?! Your face is all grazed!" He asked, alarmed.

"... I walked off the platform of my tree house this morning... and fell... on purpose, of course. Accidently scratched up my face." Craig replied, flatly.

Tweek frowned, "are you okay? I didn't see you at school again..."

Craig looked down at him, blankly, "I'm fine. Just tired. I was there. I didn't want to speak to the guys. It's exhaughsting." He muttered, in the normal deep monotone.

"... okay... well I have your hoodie. Here.' Tweek said, quietly, holding out the navy blue fabric.

Craig peered at Tweek's face, as he took his hoodie back, noticing a tinge of red appearing on his face, although he just shrugged it of, not particularly caring about it.

"Thanks, tiny. I'll see you later?" He asked, quietly, his gaze dull.

"Uh.... y-yeah. See you then..." Tweek murmured, with an air of worry and slight disappointment. Craig then walked away, back home, to finish up the plans for the camping.

Once the plans were complete, he walked over to Tweek's house, his expression desolate, as he rang the doorbell. Tweek's father opened the door, smiling the moment he saw Craig.

"Oh look, it's Craig!" He said, looking back at his wife.

"Hi, Craig!" She said, with a surprising welcome to her tone.

Craig glared at them coldly, suspicious of their sudden change in opinion of him, "is Tweek home?" He muttered.

"He sure is! He's in the back garden. You can go through." Mr. Tweek said, smiling.

"... okay." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes, suspiciously, unsure wether to trust in their welcoming demeanour. He walked through their house, to their garden, where he saw Tweek sat on the ground.

"Tweek." Craig called, his voice empty.

"ACK! C-craig? What are you doing here? I thought you hated me." He yelled, seeming panicked.

"Woah. I don't hate you. What made you think that?" Craig asked, gently, sitting down opposite him.

"W-well... I don't know... it just felt like you were avoiding me and you seemed angry." Tweek mumbled, looking at the floor.

Craig laughed, amused, "Really? I've just been tired, I don't tend to sleep well. What reason would I even have to hate you?" He inquired, breaking the previous blackness on his face.

Tweek peered at him, "I... thought it was about... last night. When, uh, I was dared to... kiss you..." He murmured slowly, his face going red.

Craig paused, looking at him in mild surprise, " Why would I hate you for that? If anything, it's the others that I hate. Something like that is meant to be reserved for someone special, not tossed around carelessly. And it's even worse that the fatass threatened you. I wouldn't hate you for something like that. You don't need to worry." He said, with a smile.

Tweek beamed at him, "thanks... I appreciate that. Oh! What was the reason you came here?" He asked.

Craig took out his phone and a few pieces of paper, " well, I finished planning a route that should be easy enough for you. Just wanted to check with you about a few things." Tweek nodded, looking at the plans that Craig had made for their trip.

"Alright. So are you fine with killing and eating wild animals, or you would prefer if I brought some canned foods? I will bring some water purification tablets, just to be safe, along with boiling any water, or I could one of the large bottles, but that would add weight, so we wouldn't be able to carry as much." Craig muttered, looking at Tweek.

"Oh... well, I think it would be... better to bring canned food. But I don't think we'd need a jug of water, since, on your map, it says there's a few streams." Tweek replied, staring at Craig's face.

Craig nodded, "okay. Do you have a sleeping bag? It might be a good idea. Since the ground can be damp and it can get pretty cold. If you don't have one, I have several spares at my place."

"I have a sleeping bag. It's insulated, so hopefully it isn't to bad." Tweek replied, smiling warmly at his friend.

Craig paused, looking at him, "well. That's all, I think. Should I come here around five, after school, on Friday?"

Tweek nodded, "that's good with me." He murmured, his focus trained on Craig.

All of a sudden, Tweek's dad opened the door, "Would you boys like some food, or coffee?" Craig's expression instantly hardened into a cold emptiness, as he glared at the older man.

"No. I should be going." He growled, gathering his belongings.

"You'll be fine. Just stay for a bit, Craig." Mr.Tweak said, calmly.

"I'm not hungry." Craig hissed, narrowing his silver-blue eyes, scornfully.

"Why not have some coffee then? It's fresh." He responded, serenely, although Craig could tell from his face that he was on the brink of lashing out.

Craig relented, grumbling, irritably, "Fine. I'll stay." He noticed Tweek shooting his father a glare as he followed them inside, annoyed. When he walked inside, he looked around the house, his face blank. Mr.Tweak directed him to a living room, where he sat down beside Tweek on a large, uncomfortably soft sofa.

"So what kind of coffee do you want, Craig?" Richard asked, peering at him, smiling.

Craig narrowed his eyes, glaring at him, before speaking, "anything plain, no milk or sugar." He muttered, fiddling with his hat, idly.

Tweek waited for a moment, before following his father into the kitchen, beginning a quiet argument about his dad trying to give him away, although Craig couldn't hear a word of it, from where he was.

Both of them came back after a few minutes, with Tweek looking slightly angry.

"You alright, tiny?" Craig asked, his face and voice desolate, as he took the mug of coffee from the blonde's father.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Tweek assured, with a smile. Craig paused, looking at him, but deciding not to pry, instead taking a sip of the coffee.

"Hm. This is pretty good." He muttered, looking up.

"Really? We sell it at our coffee shop, but most people think our stuff is terrible." Mrs. Tweek, said surprised.

Craig shrugged, "I can see why, but the reasons they might hate it are the reasons I like it, most likely." He mumbled, quietly, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible; he much preferred to sit in silence with someone. Luckily, the room fell into a comfortable silence and Craig managed to finish his coffee without interruption.

"Well. I'm done. I'll be going now." He announced, standing up.

"Oh, but the food's almost ready! How about you stay for dinner?" Mr.Tweak offered, smiling.

Craig glared at him, "look. I don't know why you're suddenly trying to be nice to me, but I've already said I'm not hungry. I don't like to eat when I'm not hungry. I've things to do at home. So, thanks for the offer. But I need to leave." He growled, before walking out of the house, sighing as he was hit with a blast of refreshing, cold air.

After a short while, he heard laboured breathing right behind him. Craig quickly spun around, getting the person in a headlock, before realising who it was and letting go.

"Oh. Sorry, tiny. Didn't notice it was you." He murmured, looking down at the blonde, relaxing, "Why are you following me?"

Tweek stared at him, appearing dazed, his face bright red, "uh... w-well I just wanted to apologise about my parents... if you don't wanna be friends anymore then tha-"Craig cut him off, partially surprised,

"Dude. I'm not gonna stop hanging out with you just because your parents are weird. Parents don't define a person." He said, calmly. Tweek paused, staring at him, confused,

'Did... my dad not give it away? Or is Craig just oblivious to any signs that someone likes him?' He thought.

"I was just worried... because, y'know... most people think that when parents suddenly act weird around someone, it can mean something..."

Craig shrugged, "sometimes it could, suppose. But parents can also just be strange from time to time. Not everything means something." He muttered, quietly.

"... I guess so..." Tweek responded, his tone almost sad.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look upset." Craig asked, a mild concern to his expression.

"...yeah. I'm alright. I should go home..." He mumbled, awkwardly, staring at the floor, as he began to walk away. Craig paused, contemplating whether to call him back and find out what's wrong, or to let it go. With a sigh, he carried on walking home, his face blank.

Arriving home, he climbed up the large maple tree, to his tree house, getting changed into pyjamas, before taking Stripe #8 out of their enclosure. Sitting down on his bed, he began to stroke it carefully, feeling it's soft, well groomed pelt, relaxing. He took out a slice of carrot, feeding it to the rodent, with a small, warm smile.

After a while, he put his guinea pig back and lay down, staring at the ceiling, thinking to himself. Craig went over the events of the day in his mind, analysising any odd behaviour he might not have registered, but, as was becoming usual, when he thought of Tweek, his mind went blank.

'Fuck. Is this what actually enjoying someone's company causes? An inability to think? In that case, I think I best just go back to hating everyone.' He thought, irritably, 'I wonder what Tweek meant when he said that most people think that odd behaviour in parents means something. Was it an observation, or a hint to something? Am I missing something?'

Craig groaned in frustration, standing up from his bed and getting dressed back into his usual apparel, with a black Lamb Of God shirt, beneath his navy blue hoodie, with his chullo hat of matching colour.

Muttering to himself, he climbed down from his tree house, despite his exhaustion, as he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, anyway. With his hands in his pockets, he began to walk the streets, relishing the cold air. When he was at the front of the house, he felt something hard make contact with his back, followed by the sound of breaking ceramic. Turning around, he saw his dad flipping him off from a window, which he returned, narrowing his eyes.

He walked down the the park, as per usual, sitting down to look over the waters. Coming to the lake helped him to relax and think, with the soothing noises of water and wildlife.

Craig sighed, holding his head in his hands, feeling unexplainably angry all of a sudden. He hissed in annoyance, slamming his fist into his leg repeatedly, muttering profanities, until his anger faded and he relaxed again, rubbing his eyes, tired.

Looking up at the stars, he felt the pendant on his necklace, where the runes had been carved into the metal, defined by an ink wash. He eventually looked down again, letting go of his necklace, his face completely empty, lacking any emotion or warmth.

Craig froze as he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Whipping around, he glared at the person approaching, to see a group of person around his age staring at him. He narrowed his eyes, watching them carefully.

"You're Craig Tucker, right? Why are you out here at night? Do you not have a house or something? You should be careful, just because you've scared everyone at school, doesn't mean you're tough enough to handle what comes out at night." One of them jeered, tauntingly. Craig raised an eyebrow, disapprovingly, not answering them.

"I though he was meant to be this terrifying asshole, not a quiet little bitch who just sits there. I bet I could beat him in a fight!" Another boasted, in an attempt to insult him.

Craig rolled his eyes, "look. Can we do this tomorrow? I'm tired. I'm just trying to relax by a lake. Fuck off." He muttered, his voice monotone and cold.

A third member of the group laughed, "looks like he's scared of us!" He said with a sneer, looking at his friends for approval.

Craig stood up, looming over then, his eyes cold, "and why would I be scared of you?" He responded, calmly.

One of the strangers glared at him, "and why should we be scared of a fag, just because he's tall?"

Craig paused, looking at them, "sorry. But I'm pretty sure I don't swing that way. I'm not gay."

"Then why is the only person you smile at a boy?" The first one asked, stepping towards him.

"You mean Tiny? Well, that's because he's the only person that I don't need to make an effort to _tolerate_ because we're friends." Craig growled, growing impatient with them. The group exchanged glances, before lunging at him, making attempt to shove and punch him, while he stood there, calmly.

"H-hey! D-dont you touch him-ACK!" A familiar voice yelled from a short distance away.

"Don't worry about it Tiny. Just let the little bastards tire themselves out. That's how I deal with most small children... apart from the obvious throwing it to the skies." Craig called, turning to face Tweek, who was running towards him, angrily.

Tweek pushed the person closest to him, leading to one of the others shoving him in retaliation, leading to a fight. The group crowded around Tweek, trying to punch him. Craig sighed, before swinging his fist into the nearest person's face, sending them reeling back, with a nose bleed.

After a few minutes, the gang eventually retreated, bruised and bloodied, and Craig turned to Tweek, slightly concerned, "You okay? You didn't have to do that. I can handle people like that, without risking my friend's safety." He said, slightly teasing.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just hate that they randomly attacked you, and you just stood there! You should have fought back! Or done something!" Tweek responded, pulling on his hair, anxiously.

Craig quickly grabbed his wrists, taking his hands away from his hair, "Don't do that... and I appreciate the concern, but they're just being reckless, trying to prove their bravery to their friends. I didn't want to beat them up and embarrass them." He said with a shrug, letting go of Tweek, after a few moments, noticing that his face had went bright red.

"Oh... I s-suppose that makes sense... but they were trying to beat you up. You have the right to fight back." Tweek murmured, stepping closer to Craig.

Craig paused, peering at him, to try to find out any emotions he might have been feeling later on, before he spoke again, "not very often I actually get encouraged to fight." He said, with a slight smile. In an instant, Tweek's face went red again, staring at Craig's face, eyes wide.

"... something wrong?" Craig asked, frowning slightly, looking down at him, curiously.

"I-I'm fine. I should get home though. It's really late." Tweek mumbled, back away, flustered, before walking away, out of the park.

"... see you tomorrow then." Craig muttered, sitting down again, looking out over the water.


	7. Bad parenting

Craig stayed outside the entire night, despite being extremely tired. He returned eventually, to get his school bags, climbing up to his tree house. Muttering to himself, he swung the door open, grabbing his bag, but when he walked out, he was shoved off the edge of the platform, with a thud.

Craig stood up as quickly as he could, in time to see his father coming down from the tree, pushing him again. In retaliation, Craig swung his fist at his face, his knuckles connecting with his father's face.

The two began to brawl, both of them bleeding and bruised, with his father constantly spitting insults at him, the most consistent thing he said being 'faggot'.

Thomas eventually managed to overpower Craig, due to his much larger weight. He slammed Craig against the stone wall, before stepping away,

"You're lucky you have school, or you'd be fucking dead by now." He hissed, before walking inside.

Craig stood up, wincing in agony, but, as usual, he put on his usual blank, cold expression and tried his best to hide his wounds, groaning in irritation when he realized his bottom lip was busted and he would probably have a black eye, since it was already swelling up. He adjust his bag, on his shoulders, walking to school, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from the people on the streets.

Craig arrived at school slightly late, although the teacher didn't even ask any questions, nor did she deliver any punishments, when she saw his face. He kept his face down in an attempt to hide his wounds, focusing on his work.

When lunch finally rolled around, he decided to avoid his usual spot, too tired to deal with people he knew fussing over him. Unfortunately, he felt two arms wrap around him from behind. In a jolt of pain, he grabbed on of the arms, throwing he person to the ground, his fist raised, ready to hit them.

He froze, when he saw that it was Tweek, on the ground, holding up his hands defensively, shaking. Craig sighed, relaxing, holding out a hand to help him up,

"Sorry. Don't come up behind me out of nowhere, though." He muttered, looking at Tweek, blankly.

"Th-thank yo- Fuck. What happened to your face?!" Tweek shrieked, pulling on his hair.

Craig shrugged, "got into a fistfight. The usual." He said, looking at the ground.

Tweek paused for a moment, "... follow me. My parents aren't home at the moment. We're skipping last block." He grabbed Craig's hand, pulling him along behind him. Craig sighed and followed him, his face completely dull and barren, ignoring the strange looks they were getting.

The pair of them arrived at Tweek's house relatively quickly, where Tweek led Craig upstairs, into his room. Tweek sat down on his bed, whilst Craig stood by the door, looking slightly suspicious.

Tweek motioned for him to sit beside him, which Craig did, after a moment. Turning to him, Tweek looked at his face, before taking Craig's hat off, but Craig put it back on nearly instantly.

"Hey. Don't touch my hat, tiny." He grumbled, still staring at the floor, calmly.

"... Craig. You're hurt. I can tell. Just... co-operate, would you?" Tweek murmured, looking him in the eyes, partially admiring the tiny hints of blue in his silver eye, feeling a heat rise to his face.

"... fine..." Craig sighed, taking his hat off, reluctantly. Tweek felt a fluttering in his chest as he stared at Craig, who looked somewhat vulnerable, his gaze fixed on the floor.

'Is it wrong that I want to kiss him? It probably wouldn't end well for me. He'd kill me.' Tweek thought, looking at Craig's lips, thinking for a moment, before clearing the thoughts and moving closer. He began unzipping Craig's hoodie, trying to hide his face, which was red in colour. Slipping the hoodie off his shoulders, he looked at Craig's shirt.

"'Lamb of God'? Are you religious?" He asked, softly.

Craig shook his head, " I lost faith in all of that stuff a long time ago. Lamb of God is a metal band." He muttered, his face blank.

Tweek went silent, wanting to ask more, but he got the feeling that Craig didn't enjoy talking about personal matters. Tweek stared at Craig for a short while, before speaking.

"C-can you... can you take your t-shirt off?" He stuttered, his face red.

Craig peered at him for a moment, before complying, lifting his shirt over his head and putting it down beside him. Tweek paused, looking at the number of scars on him, with a new adornment of fresh wounds and bruises. He was quite muscular, but extremely thin.

"Dude! When was the last time you ate?!" Tweek squealed, worry filling his eyes. Craig went silent, his face blank.

"Tell me! Please. It isn't good for you." Tweek murmured, softly.

Craig rolled his eyes, "Fine. Probably last weekend." He muttered, looking at the ground.

"Why? Are you... anorexic or something?" Tweek asked, moving closer.

Craig shook his head, " I just don't feel hungry. Plus, most of the time, I don't want to have to go inside for food. I'd rather not have to put up with my dad." He said, flatly.

Tweek sighed, "then once your wounds are sorted, how about we go to some kind of food place? I'm not gonna let you starve to death." He said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Craig shrugged, "Fine by me." He muttered, looking at Tweek, his eyes dull. Tweek gave him a warm smile, before shifting his focus to his body, looking at his wounds, cringing at the thought of how much it must have hurt.

"... did your dad do this?" He asked his tone soft and gentle.

Craig smirked, " Don't worry. I gave as good as I got. I probably would have won if he didn't catch me off guard." He said, with a shrug. To his surprise, Tweek suddenly hugged him, which was mildly uncomfortable, considering his wounds. He was half tempted to just shove the blonde away, but decided to let it slide this time, since Tweek had been acting odd for quite a while. In fact, for some reason, he decided to pat him on the back, in an attempt to comfort him.

Tweek calmed after a little while, but clung to Craig for a bit longer, enjoying being hat close to him, taking in the smell of his black hair: somewhat smoky, with a slight fruitiness. He hid his face in Craig's neck, reluctant to let go of him. Tired, Tweek began to doze off, leaning into a slightly bewildered Craig, who didn't know what to do in the situation.

Craig sat perfectly still, feeling rather awkward, considering he was topless, with one his friends sleeping with their arms around him. Fortunately, Tweek woke up, scrambling away from him, embarrassed,

"ACK! Oh f-fuck! S-sorry Craig. I didn't mean to doze off, I didn't get much sleep last night." Tweek stuttered, his face a deep scarlet.

Craig shook his head, "it's fine. Do you have some kind of first aid kit so I can fix my wounds and put my shirt on again?" He asked, flatly, peering out the window.

"O-oh! Yeah, I have one downstairs. Wait here a moment." Tweek murmured, tapping him on the shoulder, gently. Whilst Tweek was gone, Craig stood up and walked to the window, looking at his reflection, he muttered in annoyance when he saw his silver-blue eyes. He hated his heterochromia.

Tweek walked in on Craig near scowling at his reflection, his gaze mildly angry.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" Tweek asked, setting down the kit on his bed.

Craig nodded, "I'm good. Just remembered how much I hate my eyes." He muttered, sitting down again, irritated.

Tweek looked at him, surprised, " You don't like it? Why?"

Craig shrugged, "just looks weird. Get a ton of shit for it as well. Also, way too many people keep asking if I'm blind in that eye. It's annoying." He grumbled.

Tweek smiled, "I don't think it looks weird! It's adorable! I didn't think you'd be at all self conscious about it." He murmured, lightly. Craig peered at him, curiously at the word 'adorable' but didn't question it.

After Craig finished with his wounds, he quickly put his shirt back on, before looking around for his hat.

"Tweek? Have you seen my hat, I can't find it." He asked, his expression desolate, as he surveyed the room.

Tweek shook his head, "uh, no. I have not." He replied, holding back a giggle; he was hiding Craig's hat in his pockets. After about a minute of searching, Craig began to appear quite distressed, his eyes wide.

"Fuck. Where is it?! I swear I had it right beside me!" He hissed, his tone furious, mixed with traces of worry and sadness. Tweek felt a tinge of guilt, seeing how worked up his friend had gotten. Silently, he took the hat out from his pocket and put it down the side of his mattress, making sure it was visible.

Craig spotted it after a few moments and grabbed it, as if it were about to disappear, before putting it on, his expression going blank again.

That was when the bedroom door swung open and Tweek's dad walked in, slightly surprised,

"Oh. Am I interrupting something? Is that why you skipped your last lesson, Tweek?" He asked, suspiciously, looking from Tweek to Craig and back again.

Craig paused as he saw Tweek's face go red and he began to yell denials,

'... Am I missing something? Did his dad mean something by that? This family is really fucking weird.' He thought, confused, but his focus returned to reality when Tweek began speaking normally again.

"O-oh, and d-dont-ACK- don't bother cooking me a meal today, I'm going somewhere with Craig." Tweek stuttered, looking down. His dad nodded and walked out, leaving Tweek to think for a moment,

'Hold on... people might think Craig and I are together while we're out... what if he realises I like him? What is he doesn't want to be friends anymore? What if he and his gang beat me up for it and kill me? Wait... that's not gonna happen. This is Craig. He's my friend. He wouldn't do that to me.' He thought, trying to calm his nerves.

They sat in silence for a while, beside each other on Tweek's bed. Eventually Tweek broke the silence, turning to Craig,

"So... where do you wanna go for food?"

Craig shrugged, "anywhere that isn't completely vegan" he said, only half joking. Tweek laughed and grabbed his hand, leading Craig out of the house and into the streets. Craig walked alongside him, calmly, not particularly caring when Tweek didn't let go of his hand, instead tightening his grip. Soon, the arrived at a restaurant, with a slight Texas vibe.

They were directed to sit in one of the many rounded booths, with circular tables and all the seats connected. Sitting down, they began browsing though the menus, picking out what they wanted.

Eventually, a busty waitress swaggered towards them, her eyes fixed on Craig.

"Hey~ Can I take your orders?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at Craig.

"Uh, I'll get the chicken fillet burger-ACK, with a coffee" Tweek said, trying to stay polite despite his instant distaste for her.

"Alright. And what can I get you, handsome?" She leaned over the table, trying to dangle her breasts in his face, although Craig simply moved slightly closer to Tweek.

"I'll have the rack of barbeque ribs." He muttered, flatly, in anything, he sounded annoyed.

"Oh? Do you want me to put some sauce all over that rack for you? She asked, seductively, biting her bottom lip.

Craig just stared at her face blankly, for a moment, before speaking, "well, I said barbeque, didn't I? The sauce is what makes it barbeque." He replied in a monotone, his expression slightly irritated.

The waitress nodded, "I'll go put that in for you, then." She said, before strutting away towards the kitchen.

Tweek turned to Craig, "Are you serious? Did you not notice she was flirting with you? I bet she'll do it again, when she comes back." He hissed, feeling the familiar jealousy he got whenever he saw someone flirting with Craig.

Craig paused, looking at him confused, "Really? She was? I doubt it, but if she was...." his expression changed into one of disgust as he went silent, leaving Tweek slightly surprised,

'Most straight people would jump at someone like that. Does he just hate people like that? Or is there a chance he's actually gay?' He thought, as he stared at him.

The waitress eventually returned with their food, also sliding a slip of paper to Craig, before winking at him and walking away. He read what was on the paper, cringing in revulsion. Discreetly, he took out his lighter and set it on fire, before putting it on the slate floor, only snuffing out the small flame once the paper was completely blackened.

"Well. I'm not gonna be here again whilst that thing lives." He muttered to Tweek, before beginning to eat, finding that the food was relatively good.

After a while, they had both finished and Tweek was slightly drowsy, as he peered at Craig, smiling. Unable to think straight, from weariness, Tweek decided to place his hand on Craig's inner thigh, rubbing it gently. He noticed that Craig had completely frozen up, staring straight ahead, his face blank. Tweek grinned, removing his hand after about a minute. To his surprise, Craig just returned to his phone, as if nothing had happened.

'I guess he really is just oblivious to signs someone likes him...' Tweek thought, staring at him warmly.

Craig turned to Tweek after a few moments, "do you wanna leave now? Getting a bad vibe from that guy over there." He whispered to Tweek, quietly, subtly pointing to someone in the corner, with a dark, angry expression.

Tweek nodded and they stood up, paying the bill, before walking out. The moment the doors opened, Tweek grabbed Craig's hand again, shaking nervously. Craig paused looking at him for a moment, slightly uncomfortable with all of the physical contact.

"Do you wanna go back to my house?" Tweek asked, looking up at Craig, with a smile. Craig shrugged, 

"Fuck it. Sure, why not." He muttered, looking up at the darkening skies.

Tweek frowned, "... are you okay? You seem a bit angry." He murmured, softly.

Craig shrugged, "I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff." He said, calmly, looking back down at Tweek, with a faint smile. They eventually reached Tweek's house, to find that his parents were waiting for him, looking worried.

"Tweek! Are you okay?! What about your friend? Are either of you hurt?!" His mother yelled, her eyes filled with tears.

Tweek and Craig exchanged a look, "... why wouldn't we be okay? We just went to that little Texas style restaurant up the road." Tweek asked, thoroughly confused.

At that, his mother burst into tears and his dad took over, "just come inside, it's on the news."

They all went inside and sat down, with Tweek's parents rewinding the news back to what it had been on before. It was an aerial view of the place they had just been, with the reporter narrating over the events.

"The shooter was caught after killing three and wounding five, the police have since released a statement and confession." The audio suddenly clipped to a different voice.

"I followed a senior from the school in, he put my daughter in the hospital a few weeks ago, for no reason other than she smiled at him. He's a menace! I only realised he had left with his friend afterwards. I'm not ashamed of what I did! Noones kids are safe until Craig Tucker is gone for good!" The clip cut off at that and showed a mug shot of the shooter, showing the person that Craig had pointed out earlier.

Craig paused, "huh. See. I told you. Dude has some bad vibes." He said flatly, watching the reel of victims, smiling suddenly on the second death, "Oh look, Tweek. We can go back there. That waitress got killed."

Tweek glared at him, "Dude! People died! Because someone was after you, for beating up their kid! Don't you care? Aren't you scared? What is more people want to do the same?!" He asked, his eyes filling with tears.

Craig shrugged, "not many people are psychopaths like that person. I rarely go out anywhere apart from the park anywhere, and you're the only one who knows where I live." He said calmly.

Tweek's dad narrowed his eyes at Craig, "Tweek. I don't think you should hang out with him anymore, if people are wanting him to suffer, they might hurt you to hurt him."

Tweek squeal, looking terrified, his eyes wide in fear. Craig glared at his friend's dad, "Don't make him paranoid. Nobody's gonna hurt him. I'll make sure of it." He growled, irritated by the way he tired to scare his own child. Craig was certain that he could defend Tweek if anyone went after him, although he wasn't sure why, he felt an odd sense of protectiveness over the blonde.

Tweek looked up at Craig, his gaze soft, the fluttering feeling returning to his chest, like a crushing weight on his chest. With a sob, Tweek wrapped his arms around Craig's torso, crying into his neck. To his surprise, Craig hugged him back, in an attempt to comfort him.

Tweek's parents eventually walked back in to the room, with his dad throwing them a disapproving look, but Craig just glared at him and flipped him off. Tweek eventually calmed down and pulled away, his face slightly red, his golden-emerald eyes warm with an affection.

Craig gave him a faint smile, looking down at him, before taking out his phone, texting someone. After a few moments, Tweek's dad grabbed his son's arm and pulled him into the kitchen for a talk.

Meanwhile, Tweek's mum turned to Craig, "uh, Craig, isn't it?" She asked softly.Craig looked up and nodded, and she began to speak again, "I know that you and Tweek are friends. But do you maybe think that he thinks of you... a bit differently?"

Craig gave her a confused look, "no? I haven't noticed anything odd. Why do you ask?"

"Well you see, he told us that he l-" she was cut of by a quiet sob coming from the kitchen, "wait Craig, don't-" she stopped as Craig instantly stood up, walking into the kitchen.

Tweek was looking up at his dad, tears streaming down his face, shaking uncontrollably, with his dad looming over him, looking angry. Craig rushed over to Tweek, his face contorted with fury.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Craig growled, his voice laced with immeasurable anger.

Tweek's father backed away slightly, looking scared, but indignant, "he needs to know exactly what could happen if you two carry on being friends!" He responded, trying to sound calm.

Craig glared at him, his eyes like chips of ice, "nothing's gonna happen, I'll make sure of it. It's simply cruel and unnecessary to try and scare your child into following your every command, just because you don't approve of something." He hissed, his wrath clear in his voice.

Deciding that he had said enough, Craig turned around to face Tweek, "You okay, Tiny?" He asked gently, resting his hand on his shoulder, comfortingly. Tweek wiped his eyes, trembling, "y-yeah. I-I'm okay." He mumbled, with a faint smile.

"... do you wanna come over to my house for a while to calm down?" Craig offered softly, looking him in the eyes.

"S-sure, if you d-don't mind... Thank you." Tweek murmured, shooting Craig a grateful look, rubbing his eyes. Craig wrapped one arm around Tweek's neck, glaring at his father, his eyes showing nothing but pure scorn.

The pair walked out of the door, heading out, towards Craig's house. Craig took his arm off Tweek once they were outside, glancing around suspiciously. Tweek looked up at him, curiously, but remained silent, instead grabbing his hand. They continued down the road, reaching a corner, just before they turned, Craig looked back, to see Tweek's father watching them from a window, angrily. Craig narrowed his eyes and flipped him off, before walking out of sight.


	8. Starry Night

The pair arrived at Craig's house just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. They climbed the maple up to the tree house, but to Tweek's surprise, he passed the platform, instead climbing up to the roof, gesturing for Tweek to follow. The blonde obliged, trying his best not to fall. He sat down beside Craig, who was lying down on the rough roof, staring up into the skies with a blank expression.

Tweek looked at him, with a warm affection, not even caring if Craig caught on, although knowing him, the senior would be completely oblivious. To be honest, that was just another little quirk that Tweek found absolutely adorable. Tweek half wished he had the courage to close what felt like a huge distance between their lips and show Craig how he felt, but he didn't. So he just stared at him, smiling with a slight blush on his face.

Both of them sat in silence, until the star came out overhead. Tweek felt a strong sense of surprise when he saw Craig's face instantly light up in wonder, his expression as bright as the stars he was looking at. Whilst Tweek didn't particularly care for the night sky, actually finding it quite unsettling, he loved seeing these rare occasions of pure, positive emotion on Craig's face. Tweek couldn't help but smile, a warm, fuzzy, fluttery feeling filling his chest. He noticed that after Craig's hat had fallen off for the second time, he had resorted to just taking it off, leaving his corvid black gair slightly ruffled.

Without thinking, Tweek ran his hand through Craig's hair, realising what he had done, he nearly drew his hand back, suddenly, but when he noticed that Craig hadn't reacted, he continued, all his focus on Craig and the pleasant, tingly feeling that Tweek felt in his chest. He stared at Craig's face, studying his features, his expression on the border between affection and pure love, as he looked at Craig's unique, silver-blue eyes, which reflected the stars above.

Tweek leaned towards him, feeling the innate urge to just slam his mouth into Craig's and hope it'll turn out okay, but he realised, moments before he acted on it, that it probably wasn't a good idea. He should just stick with what he was certain they were both comfortable with, for now. He was terrified of driving Craig away. He'd had crushes before, but this felt like the first real one. He was certain that he loved Craig with his entire heart.

Craig eventually looked at him curiously, his eyes still bright, warmer than Tweek had ever seen them, "something wrong, tiny? You look... well, I don't really know, off, I suppose." He muttered, his voice laced with a minor concern.

Tweek smiled widely, looking down at him, warmly, "never been better, really."

Craig paused for a moment, looking at him, his gaze softer than usual, "why don't you lay down? I find that the stars are comforting whenever I'm stressed." He murmured, gently, barely resembling the person who had went off at his dad just earlier that evening. This was the side of Craig that only Tweek ever saw, everyone else just saw him as a cold, calculating, aggressive bully.

Tweek hesitated, before resting his head on Craig's stomach, like a pillow, looking up at the sky, smiling. Craig looked down at the blonde, his eyes wide in surprised,

'Do normal friends do things like this? I wouldn't know. Even if Token and Clyde do it, I wouldn't have noticed... I guess I'll just roll with it?' He though as he relaxed again, his gaze returning to the sky. Tweek smiled to himself, as he rested his head on Craig's stomach; he could feel his slow, relaxed breathing, as well as the beating of his heart. After a few minutes, Craig shifted slightly, taking a flask out from his pocket and took a long swig.

Tweek looked up at him curiously, "what's in there?" He asked, quietly.

Craig peered down at him, with a faint smile, " just some vodka. I take it with me in case I just feel like not thinking for a while." He mumbled, looking up again.

Tweek frowned, "how do you even get a hold of that stuff? Aren't you underage?"

Craig nodded, " yeah. But it's a perk of being tall, most cashiers think I'm twenty-one or older. So I can get away with it." He said, nonchalantly, before taking a large sip. Tweek scrambled closer, reluctantly getting up from Craig's stomach and leaned over his face.

"What is it like?"

Craig gave him a blank stare, "what... what is the 'it'?" He mumbled, his speech slightly slurred, although he continued to drink.

"Vodka. What is it like?" Tweek repeated, staring him in the eyes.

Craig shrugged, "kinda tasteless... you... you can try some if you want?" He offered, holding the flask out towards Tweek.

Tweek narrowed his eyes at Craig, " Are you drunk?" He asked, curiously.

Craig shook his head, "nah. I can... I can rarely get wasted on a single flask. Plus, this one was already half empty. I just... just enjoy not having to think for a bit, so forgive the lack of eloquence." He muttered, taking another slip.

Tweek nodded, before lying down again, closing his eyes, for a moment, enjoying the blissful silence. Tweek eventually found himself falling asleep, soothed by Craig's gentle breathing and the warmth of his body. Craig lay awake for about an hour, before he eventually drifted off, partially aided by the alcohol.

Craig was first to awaken the next morning, his clothes slightly damp from the morning dew. He blinked a few times, slightly confused, before he realised where he was and what had happened. Careful not to wake Tweek, he took out his phone, checking the time, surprised by the time: 6am.

"Fuck. Pretty sure that's the latest I've ever woken up." He muttered, rubbing his eyes. Apparently he had spoken too loud, because Tweek instantly stirred, opening his eyes, appearing slightly confused. As he remembered, he sat up, looking slightly alarmed.

Tweek paused for a moment before speaking, "d-do you know what time it is?"

Craig nodded, " 6am..." He grumbled, irritably.

Tweek gave him a confused look, "is something wrong? I suppose it is quite early..." He said thoughtfully.

Craig shot him an incredulous glance, "Early? I'm usually up and about by two or three, if I sleep at all." He muttered, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Tweek looked at him, concerned, "really? No wonder you always look tired." He said, gesturing at Craig's face.

Craig shrugged, "You should probably get home, tiny. You're parent'll be worried. Plus, school starts soon." He muttered, staring at the surface of the roof.

Tweek giggled, "we still have hree hours until it starts." He said, smiling warmly. Craig sighed, before standing up and jumping down onto the platform below. Tweek quickly followed him, hesitating, before trailing after him, into his tree house, sitting down on Craig's bed, looking up at him. 

"So, what are you favourite subjects?" Tweek asked, twitching slightly.

Craig sighed, seeming to realise that Tweek wasn't leaving for a bit, "I dunno... I like science and history, I guess... I like space and war." He muttered, avoiding Tweeks gaze, as he took off his damp hoodie.

Tweek's face turned a deep scarlet as he realised what was happening, as Craig began to take off his shirt, tossing it to the side. It was as Craig reached for a drawer, to get a new shirt out, that Tweek stood up. He wrapped his arms around Craig's neck, hugging him, just wanting to be closer to him.

"You're a good friend. Thanks for standing up to my dad yesterday... I lo- I... really like hanging out with you." He mumbled into his neck, his eyes closed. Craig froze, tensing up at the contact.

"Uhhh... thanks?" Craig responded, unmoving, his face completely blank, "can you... can you let go of me now? I need to get ready for school. I like to stop by the lake for a while beforehand." He muttered, uncomfortably. Tweek reluctantly let go, instantly missing the warmth and closeness.

Craig pulled on a plain black shirt, making some kind of noise of irritation, before taking out a black hoodie with a detailed swirling pattern in grey, with a design that looked like it was half unzipped, revealing a skeleton, on the front. He paused for a moment, glancing at Tweek, before taking something else out of the drawer and stuffing it into his pocket.

Tweek felt a burning curiosity, suddenly desperate to know what Craig was hiding from him. His thinking, however, was cut off as Craig glared at him coldly, 

"Can you please leave? I'm trying to get changed and I'd rather be alone." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes.

Tweek felt his heart sink slightly, but stood up and walked to the door, throwing Craig a somewhat sad, longing look, before struggling down the tree, going home.

When he returned home, he was faced by his dad, who looked rather cross with him, his arms folded.

"So... where were you last night? What were you doing?" He asked, suspiciously.

Tweek twitched, shaking, "I was... I was at Craig's house! We were just lying down on the roof and looking at the stars, and I ended up falling asleep!" He responded, defensively.

Richard Tweak eyed him doubtfully, "Did anything else happen? You realise that if yo did anything like that, it would be a crime, right? You aren't seventeen yet, remember."

Tweek paused for a moment, flustered, as he processed what his father had just insinuated, "J-jesus Christ! N-no! No-nothing like that happened at all! ACK! C-Craig is straight! We were j-just hanging out!" Tweek yelled, extremely embarrassed.

"... well alright then... go and get ready for school, or you'll be late." His father muttered. Tweek darted up to his room, trembling wildly, getting ready for school as quickly as he could, although his mind lingered on Craig, the way his face had lit up when the stars had come out.

Tweek arrived at school at the usual time, heading for his locker. Fumbling with the lock, he muttered in annoyance when he couldn't open it. To his dismay, the moment he did open it, it was slammed shut again, nearly catching his fingers, making his squeal in alarm. Before he could react, he found himself being shoved against the metal, with a hollow clang. 

Terrified, he looked up, to see Cartman, with a shit-eating grin,

"What are you gonna do? Cry? Faggot!" He sneered haughtily, glancing at the small crowd that had gathered around. Tweek felt tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes, as he felt a fist collide with his stomach, rendering his breathing ragged and painful. Tweek closed his eyes, trying to hit the fat hand away from his neck, coughing.

Tweek looked around for any help, only to see that the crowd was smiling, laughing at him, enjoying it. He twisted his head around to the other side, just in time to see a familiar face break into a sprint towards him. Tweek fell to the ground as Craig rounded on Cartman.

Craig had seized Cartman by the collar, beating his face in, aggressively. Even as the fat boy began to scream, crying for help, Craig continued to pummel him. Tweek was genuinely scared of him. Not by the sheer violence of the scene, instead Craig's expression. Pure fury, scorn and hatred was plastered on his face, his eyes dark, with an almost murderous glint to them. He was yelling in a near battle cry, as he repeatedly hit the other boy, blood splattering onto his clothes and skin.

Once Cartman's face was sufficiently beaten, Craig grabbed his head, slamming it into the floor again and again, until the other boy appeared near unconscious, which was when he took the cigarette from his mouth and put it out against the fat teen's neck, eliciting a shriek of pain, followed by whimpers and pleas for mercy.

Craig stood up, glaring down at Cartman icily, flipping him off, before looking out over the crowd, "I won't say it again. If any of you fuck with my friends, I really will _hurt you_ " he snarled, his voice thick with menace. Satisfied with the looks of unwavering fear, he crouched down in front of Tweek, his fury evaporating in an instant, replaced by a gentle warmth, as he rested his hand on Tweek's shoulder,

"Hey tiny. Are you okay? You took a bit of a beating there. He won't bother you again. I think I taught him a lesson." Craig murmured, with a small smile.

Tweek's momentary fear of Craig disappeared, as he burst into tears, wrapping his arms around the black haired senior, clutching at him as if he was dangling over a cliff face. Craig curled his arms around Tweek's back, helping him to his feet, whilst also trying to comfort him.

"Don't worry. You're safe now." Craig affirmed, soothingly, "do you want to go to the nurse? I don't mind missing some of my lesson for this."

Tweek thought for a moment before nodding, he didn't think he was particularly injured, but it was an excuse to spend more time with Craig. On the other hand, Craig was slightly confused by his protective feelings towards the small blonde, the anger he had felt at the sight of him being harmed alarmed even himself.

Both of them walked to the nurse's office, with Craig keeping his arm around Tweek's shoulders, flipping off anyone he saw in the halls. Tweek slowly began to pull himself together, wiping away his tears.

As they walked in, the nurse looked up with a smile, "Craig. Didn't think you brought the people you bully to get fixed up? Or is this a special someone?"

Craig shook his head, "I didn't do this." He responded flatly, apparently not catching her hint.

The nurse raised an eyebrow, "really? Then why are your knuckles busted? And why are you covered in blood?"

Craig grinned at her, "that's from the kid that beat him up. It was Cartman."

"Oh... shit. Craig, I'm not gonna have a dead body to deal with am I?" She teased, smiling back. Tweek felt a flare of jealousy as he watched them,

'Are they together? Maybe Craig really isn't gay...' he thought, hit by a small wave of anxiety.

"So who's this? Did you finally get a boyfriend, Tucker?" She taunted, looking at Tweek.

"Oh, no. It's not like that. We're just good friends. His name is Tweek." Craig muttered, shooting her a glare.

"Shame. You two would make a cute couple." She sighed nonchalantly, looking disappointed.

"Thanks? But I've already said: I'm not gay." Craig grumbled, looking away. Tweek peered at Craig's face, he swore that he could see a faint tint of red to his cheeks, but he couldn't tell.

The nurse rolled her eyes, "Really, Craig? You're eighteen! Can you just admit it already? You're gay!" She near yelled, sounding bored, "anyway... what did you think of all the stuff on the news?"

Craig huffed, glaring at her, "You mean the shooting? I was there with Tweek that evening. Apparently I was right to want to leave. Always trust your gut feeling about someone. That waitress that died was serving us."

The nurse instantly looked interested, "the pretty one with nice tits? Fuck, if I'd have been there..." she gave a small smirk, winking at Craig, who cringed in disgust. She sighed, irritably, "see, this is how we know you're gay."

Tweek paused, feeling ridiculous, 'the school nurse is into women... I got jealous over nothing... not as if I have a reason to be jealous anyway... Craig doesn't like me back' he thought, feeling slightly sad.

Craig muttered something under his breath, before looked down at her, "look. I didn't come here to talk. Tweek got hurt. I want to make sure he's okay... because he's my friend." He added, seeing her face. He subconsciously tightened his grip around Tweek, still feeling protective, even if the initial danger had passed.

Craig waited until all of Tweek's small cuts and bruises had been checked over, despite being reminded of his class several times. When it was nearly done, Cartman was dragged in, apparently he had fallen unconscious after being beaten. Some of the faculty were (reluctantly) dragging him in, but an air of horror surrounded them.

The nurse gasped in alarm, "Fuck, Craig! You really put him in the shits! Hopefully I'm not gonna have to work over time!"

Craig's face went blank the moment the teachers walked in, just moving closer to Tweek, narrowing his eyes at them. One of the teachers followed her gaze to Craig, looking alarmed, "You did this? Why?!" She demanded, crossing her arms.

Craig simply rolled his eyes and raised his middle finger to the teacher, earning a squeal of surprise from Tweek. The teacher gave a shrill, annoying gasp of shock,

"Excuse me?! Did you just... did you just flip me off, young man?!" She caterwauled, like a banshee feminist.

Craig glanced around, "no." He responded bluntly, not even stopping the gesture.

"That's it! Detention after school!" She shrieked.

One of the other teachers stepped forward, "uh. That's Craig Tucker... the kid we told you about... that probably isn't a good idea..." he muttered quietly, looking nervous.

Craig smirked, "Don't worry. I'll be there." He turned to Tweek, his expression going soft in an instant, "hope you feel better later, tiny." He murmured gently, patting his shoulder, before walking out of the room, turning around once beyond the door, to raise both of his middle fingers to the bitchy teacher.

Tweek couldn't help but blush lightly, as he watched the events transpire, the shrill voiced teacher storming after him, fuming. The remaining teacher turned to Tweek, as the nurse set to work on the tub of lard, whilst they waited for his mother.

"So... you're friends with Tucker?" He asked, carefully. Tweek squealed, before nodding, looking at the ground.

"What happened? Why are you in here as well? You two seem close... I don't think he'd beat you up."

Tweek shook his head urgently, "Oh, no! I-it was th-that kid there, he-ACK- tried to beat me up, a-and Craig stopped him... I have to admit though... it was k-kind of scary to watch, he looked like he wanted to kill him! That's be way too much pressure! Ngh-" he yelled, pulling on his hair slightly.

The teacher looked slightly dumbfounded, "really? Craig isn't really the person to defend others. Usually he's on the offensive, even with his own friends... well, nice talking to you, but I need to get on with my job." He said with a smile, before walking out.

At the end of the day, Craig was in his detention, looking at his phone, despite the teacher's warnings to stop. After a while, he stood up, earning a glare from the teacher, 

" You aren't leaving. The doors are locked." She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. She must have followed his gaze, because when he looked out of the window beside him, she piped up again.

"No. The windows don't open, and we're on the second floor. You aren't escaping." 

Craig just walked to the other side of the classroom, with the other people in detention watching him closely. He shot the teacher a smirk, before flipping her off,

"And with that, I bid you adieu." He said, in mock drama, the teacher apparently realised his plan because she jumped up, screeching at him. But before she could reach him, Craig broke into a sprint, crashing through the window. He caught hold of the tree, looking up at the teacher, who was yelling at him from the broken window.

Craig grinned, dropping to the floor, before responding, "Fuck you! My friend was hurt. I'm gonna go check on him!" He yelled up at her, before walking off the school campus, towards Tweek's house.


	9. Caught by the lake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but next one is another double length, so I can try to keep their camping trip together.

Craig arrived at Tweek's house, his skin partly lacerated by shards of glass, from the window he had smashed through. Wasting no time, he knocked on the door sharply, waiting for it to open. To his annoyance, it was Tweek's father who answered.

"Sorry. But Tweek isn't home. You'll have to come back another time." Richard muttered, clearly not very fond of Craig. The black-haired senior just looked down at him, his gaze blank, until the older man began to squirm, uneasily.

Craig narrowed his eyes, "liar." He hissed, bluntly.

Mr. Tweak stepped back, alarmed, "fine. He's up in his room. Make it quick. A gay son is good for business, but not when he's dating a bully."

Craig peered down at him, "me and Tweek aren't together. I'm not into guys, and I don't think Tweek is either. And even if he is, and he told you, you just pulled a real dick move. You don't try to out someone. Especially not for your _business._ " he said calmly, a kind of serene rage, only letting a fraction of his fury enter his voice on the last sentence, before brushing past him, heading upstairs to talk to Tweek.

Silently, he opened to door, standing in the frame, looking at Tweek blankly. The spastic blonde was drawing in a sketchbook with headphones on. Craig walked up behind him, studying his drawing. It was of Craig.

Letting out a laugh, he smirked at Tweek, "nice drawing, tiny. May I ask who the _truly dashing_ person you're drawing is?" He taunted, flicking Tweek's head, casually.

Tweek shrieked, instantly, swiping the drawing off the desk in alarm, throwing off his headphones. That was when Craig heard the unfamiliar music, cringing in what looked like disgust.

"The fuck's that filth?" Craig muttered, his voice husky and disapproving.

Tweek glared at him, "it what normal people listen to! It's at the top of the charts, it's really good, just listen." He said, grumpily, before unplugged, letting the damned noise leak into the entire room.

Craig glared at him, cover his ears, "if you don't stop, I will fucking jump through your window! If I ran through a second story window to escape detention to check on you and come here. Don't think I won't do he same to escape that noise!" He ranted, angrily.

Tweek rolled his eyes, "that explains the cuts on your face. Sound like something you'd do." He grumbled, turning off his music, before turning to Craig again, "Well. If you think my music sucks ass, why don't you show me _your_ music?" 

Craig paused, before shaking his head, I don't like people knowing what I listen to. Sorry Tiny."

Tweek pouted, "Oh. I thought you trusted me..." He murmured, in mock sadness.

To his mild concern, Craig's gaze just sharpened, erasing any warmth or softness, "You can never trust anyone. Unless you're an expert at reading people, which, I can assure you, us Tuckers aren't. We just flip off anything mildly irritating and continue out day avoiding everyone but our friends. Anyway, I only came here to see if you were alright after getting beaten up, and to see if you're still up for going camping tomorrow."

Tweek sighed, before cracking a small smile, "I'm fine. I'm actually pretty excited about camping with you. I think it'll be fun."

Craig gave a brisk nod, "good to see you're okay... I have things to attend to. See you tomorrow." The senior flipped him off, before walking out, his gaze dark and suspicious. 

Tweek watched him leave, feeling his heart sink at the sudden shift in mood that Craig had shown. Did he really not trust Tweek? Or was he just being weird as a joke? The blonde's mind was racing with possibilities and theories.

After a while, he was called down to eat as usual, muttering irritably; he didn't like eating with his family, his spazzy nature caused way too much trouble.

About half way through the meal, his dad suddenly spoke up, " Oh, Tweek. I might have mentioned that you were gay to your friend when I let him in. He didn't believe me though. Then went off at me about outing people." He mused calmly, causing Tweek to choke for a moment.

"Y-you.... ARGH! Sh-shit! Ngghh! W-why would you do that?! Oh man, that's too much pressure! A-at least he didn't-GAH- believe you! Hhrrgh... I really hate you, dad." He hissed, storming out of the house, bitterly, fuming. Tweek's automatic instinct was to visit Craig, so he did, heading for Craig's house, wanting comfort.

Not wanting to risk the tree, He knocked on the front door, trembling in his anxiety. A tall, broad shouldered, red-haired man with a bald spot answered the door, flipping him off.

"U-uh. Excuse me, but is Craig home? I really want to talk to him." He stuttered, frozen in fear.

The man scoffed, "how would I know? I avoid that... that _thing_ most of the time. Even if he was here, I wouldn't tell you and risk you corrupting him even more with your faggot touch. Putting ideas in his head. _Trying to touch him._ " he sneered, shoving him away from the house, aggressively.

'Fuck. No wonder Craig is always so moody, He takes after his dad... but it's usually cute when Craig is trying to act like a brick wall, this dick is just annoying... I wonder if he can be as scary as Craig. He doesn't look quite as... intimidating? As his son.' Tweek thought, before nodding awkwardly to Craig's dad, retreating for the door, whilst the man watched him, suspiciously.

Tweek thought for a moment, where could he usually find Craig at night? The lake. The location came to his head instantly, and he set off, his previous, simple want to be with his friend, turning into a desperacy. He felt like something bad was happening.

Out of breath, he reached the lake as quickly as he could. To his surprise, instead of screaming like his mind had been telling him there would be, there was a quiet singing.

"Voices, in my head again,

Beating me in a war I can't win.

I can hear them now.

Trapped in a cage inside my own skin.

And I don't know myself anymore.

They're pulling me under.

Voices."

A voice sang out, eerily, Tweek felt almost entranced by the singing, frozen, whilst the 'mystery' person moved onto the next song.

"Oh, Mrs.Pharmacist, if I resist, lock me up and bind my wrists.

You've been a bad little girl, little girl.

Close your eyes and listen close.

I know just how much you love it.

If you speak you loose your turn,

So shut your mouth before I fuck it."

That brought Tweek out of his trance like state, he finally pushed through the bush, alerting the other of his presence.

Surprise took over him as he saw who it was. Craig was stood, staring at him, clutching a guinea pig to his chest as if it was his very life force, and his face- oh fuck his face. It was the first time he had seen Craig face go properly red with embarrassment.

It was really fucking adorable.

"Tweek..." Craig muttered awkardly, clearing his throat, refusing to meet his gaze.

Tweek squealed at Craig's voice, which was flat and monotone, "dude! What and why were you singing by the lake, when the sun's going down.

Craig narrowed his eyes, "... it's just a song I like. No big deal. It's called Rats, by a band called Motionless in White. I was only singing because I calms down Stripe #8. A bird got into my room and he got scared." He mumbled quietly, sounding embarrassed.

Tweek smiled gently, looking at the guinea pig, his gaze warm and soft, "I didn't know you were capable of comforting anything." He taunted lightly.

Craig rolled his eyes, "whatever, tiny. I need some time alone. See you tomorrow. I'll pick you up at five?" He said, questioningly. Tweek nodded, beaming at him happily, with shining eyes. Craig shot him a small smile, before patting him on the shoulder and walking away, along the perimeter of the lake.

Tweek's shoulder tingled slightly at the touch, whilst he watched Craig wandering away, still smiling. As Tweek began to walk back home, he remembered what his dad had said: he still hadn't cleared it up with Craig.

With a sigh, he decided to let it be, Craig didn't seem too bothered about it anyway. Tweek shivered as he reached the front door,

'What if he's lying and hiding the truth from me? What if he hates me? He could kill me while we're camping and nobody will find my body! He _does_ kind of look like a murderer... oh Jesus. Am I gonna die tomorrow?' He thought, his breathing heavy as he ran up to his room, shaking wildly.

Tweek shook his head, clearing the thoughts, as he flopped down onto his bed, exaughsted. He squeezed his eyes closed, begging for sleep to come.

Lying still for an hour, Tweek stared up at the ceiling, his mind racing. He let out an irritated groan, rolling over, grabbing his laptop and opening it up. Powering it on, he went back onto one of his social media's, typing in Craig's name, idly.

Scrolling down, he came across another video that Clyde had posted earlier that day. He pressed play, curious about it's contents.

The clip showed an unfamiliar room, probably Clyde's, Token was the only one visible.

"So Token... now are things going with Nichole?"

Token sighed, unaware of the camera, "not too good. She keeps getting all pissy when I want to hang out with you guys and it's getting on my nerves."

"So why don't you dump her ass?" Clyde asked, obnoxiously.

Token rolled his eyes, "we can work through it. We aren't all emotional crybabies like you." He said, although his tone was fond.

The camera shifted, it's focus turned to the third person, "what about you _Feldspar?_ have you found someone yet? Because as far as we know, you've been single your whole life. Whilst I, on the other hand, managed to hook up with Bebe last weekend.

Craig looked up from the yellow insect on his hand, his eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, "...no. Relationships just hold you back from your ambitions. You're a prime example of that. Nobody wants to know about your sex life... and don't call me Feldspar."

Clyde laughed, "dude. You jumped through a second story window. Of course we're gonna call you 'Feldspar the great thief'. What ese would you expect?" Craig rolled his eyes, flipping him off, before returning to the insect, calmly.

"Craig. Can you get that wasp out of here, instead of feeding it honey? I'm allergic to their stings." Token muttered, shuffling away from him uncomfortably.

Craig fixed him with a scornful glare, surprising his friends with his hatred, "no. It won't bother you. Wasps, ants and bees love honey. I like them. I'm not gonna hurt it or throw it out, just because you're weak." He hissed, angrily.

"Okay, okay. Christ, I was just asking. What's your obsession with-"

Clyde cut him off, "don't! Don't get him started. You know what Craig's like." Craig flipped him off, before gently running his fingertip down the Wasps back, earning him an uncomfortable cringe from Token.

That was when the video cut and Tweek felt a slight disappointment, so he found another video, intrigued by the title: 'Craig wouldn't shut up about space durning the sleepover. So if anybody thinks that listening to him, feel free to listen to this. Considering Token and I clearly aren't getting any :('. Tweek chuckled, before pressing play, settling into his duvet and mattress, comfortably.

The room in the video was dark, but he could make out Craig's face, which was bright as he rambled on about planets, stars and logical theories. Tweek felt his face heat up, his a distinguished tent coming to his pants as he listened to the random science talk.

After a few moments, he relented, shoving his hand beneath his underwear, stroking himself, letting out muffled noises of pleasure. It was over faster than Tweek had hoped, and he was soon cleaning himself up.

Once his 'mess' had been clear up, Tweek lay on his bed, tired. After a moment deliberation, realisation dawned on him.

He had just jerked off to his best friend, who he had a crush on.

Tweek ran a hand down his face, feeling an odd sense of guilt, before sighing and laying down, finally able to sleep.

When Friday finally rolled around, Tweekwas excited beyond belief. He got up, forgetting about last night's incident, rushing to get ready for school as quickly as possible. He was beaming by the time he walked out the door, heading for the bus stop. Arriving at school, he rushed to his class, wanting to get everything over and done with.

The school day passed by agonizingly slow, making Tweek even more uncomfortable, twitching, shifting and checking to clock often. When they were finally freed from the classes, he nearly sprinted to the bus,, itching to get home.

He spent his time at home packing all of the essentials, as well as a few items of 'luxury'. Watching the time, eagerly, he froze when there was a knock on the door, his heart fluttering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might slow down slightly, because I've started writing another story along with this one.


	10. Camping Trip

Tweek hurled himself down the stairs, barely touching the ground, leading to him tripping around half way and tumbling down the remaining steps. He untangled his limbs, slightly winded, before darting to the door, only to see that his dad had already opened it and was speaking to him. Shoving his dad out of the way, Tweek beamed at Craig, his wild hair even more dishevled than usual.

Craig was about to speak, when Richard suddenly pushed him away from the door, "Tweek. Lock the door. He has a gun." He hissed, urgently.

Tweek froze, staring at Craig, taking a step back, although his friend just raised an eyebrow, slipping the suspiciously shaped bag off his shoulder,

"This? It's an air rifle, dumbass. Couldn't kill a person, even with heavy mods. It can't even kill a deer. Grow a pair, would you?" He muttered, rolling his eyes. Tweek relaxed instantly, glaring at his dad,

"Do you mind? You don't need to be here. Uh-NGH- Craig. I'm almost finished packing. Wanna come up to my room for a few minutes?" Tweek asked with a warm smile, ignoring his dad's shocked sputtering.

Craig gave him a light smile, putting the strap of his gun bag back over his shoulder, "Sure, Tiny. Good to see you standing up to that ass." He stated approvingly, as if Richard wasn't right beside them.

Tweek led him upstairs, finding that he was unable to stop smiling; he was beyond excited. Craig sat down on his bed quietly, watching Tweek collect his things, with a mildly amused look on his face.

"W-what is it?" Tweek asked nervously, when he noticed.

Craig shook his head, "nothing. Just find it funny to see you rush around trying to find things, you know there's not any kind of 'late', don't you?" He taunted lightly, his asymmetrical eyes bright. Tweek rolled his eyes, before picking up his bags and grinning,

"You ready to go?"Craig nodded and the pair walked out of the house, talking casually. It was on the outskirts of town that Craig heard a familiar voice speak to him,

"Yo! Craig! What are you doing with the spaz kid? Why do you have a bunch of massive bags?" Clyde yelled, waving at him, "come hang with us! We're gonna go play some games at Tokens!" 

This launched them into a verbal assault on Tweek, when Craig was silent. Pausing for a moment, he waited for them to be completely distracted, before quickly taking his air rifle from it's bag and stepping in front of Tweek, aiming at Clyde's chest, who he saw yelp though the sight.

"Dude! That...that thing can't kill me, right?"

"No. But it'll hurt like a bitch. Or I could take your eye out with it... Or with a rusty spoon... insult Tweek again and you can find out." Craig hissed, curling his ginger around the trigger for emphasis.

Once his friends took a few steps back, he lowered the barrel, putting it back in its bag carefully, before walking away with Tweek.

"... you wouldn't actually have shot him right there, right?" Tweek asked, hesitantly.

Craig shot him an, almost, sinister grin, "don't underestimate what I'd do if someone pisses me off enough. But I'd wouldn't have shot him in the middle of the street... the idiot didn't even realise that the safety was on." He added, as they reached the edge of the woodland, plunging into the dark trees.

They walked on until the sun was beginning to sink, the terrain becoming progressively more rocky, now the forest wasn't as dense and Tweek could see a large, rocky hill. They wandered straight towards it, which was when he noticed a large crevice, with an old fire pit. 

Craig walked straight into the cave, as if he lived there, dropping his bags beside a jagged stone shelf. Tweek glanced around at the granite cave, seeing the small stalactites above them. 

When he turned around again, he froze. Craig wasn't there.

"Uh, C-Craig? Where are you? CRAIG?!" He yelled urgently, looking around. He felt his heart begin to race with worry as he looked around the cave, before huddlind into the back wall, crying. 'He's gone... did he get kidnapped? What if it was a bear?! Did he... just leave me here? ' he thought, as he tried to control his tears

After a few minutes, he heard a noise and looked up, thinking it could be whatever took his best friend. But when he looked up, he saw Craig, appearing completely fine, holding an armful of wood.

Tweek stood up and sprinted at him, wrapping his arms around his body, while he tackled him to the ground, still crying.

"Fuck, dude! What was that for?!" The angry look on his face softened when he looked at Tweek's face, "... why're you crying Tweek?" He asked gently.

Tweek leaned back from the on-the-floor hug, wiping his eyes. He was kneeling over Craig, a knee on either side of his waist.

"I-I thought you were dead! That's too much pressure! You're my best friend and I don't want you dead!" Tweek yelled, wiping his eyes.

"Calm down Tweek. We aren't gonna die out here. We'll be fine. I just went out for some fire wood." Craig responded, soothingly, gently rubbing Tweek's shoulder, before adding, "... uh, if that's all... can you get off me now?"

Tweek's face went bright red as he realised what position they were in and quickly scrambled away, letting Craig gather the wood and arrange it into the fire pit. He watched intently as Craig search his bag for a moment before taking out a magnesium lighter and using it to light a clump of dried grass, which he put beneath the logs.

Once the rest started to catch, Tweek felt the wave of warmth radiating from the flames, whilst Craig stared up at the sky for a short while.

"Hey Tweek? I have some targets nearby. Want me to teach you how to shoot?" Craig asked casually, holding up the bag that held his gun.

Tweek glanced up at him, weighing to options, before nodding, standing up with a smile. The pair walked out, talking quietly, until they reached a silent forested area, with wooden target strung up on the branches. Craig took out the air rifle and handed it to Tweek.

"You know how to hold it?" He whispered, peering at Tweek.

"Not really..."

"Here. I'll help." Craig responded, before kneeling behind him and resting him chin of his shoulder, gently guiding his arms to the right position, before freezing.

"What?" Tweek asked as quietly as he could.

"Rabbit. To your left. Do you wanna take the shot or should I?" Craig whispered back, his warmth breath tickling Tweek's neck.

"I-I can." He replied, before shifting at carefully as he could, until the crosshairs of the sight were over the rabbits head. Craig gently leaned over, switching off the safety.

"Take the shot." He murmured, so Tweek pulled the trigger. He froze in horror as the rabbit began flailing wildly, had he made a mistake?

Craig smiled and stood up, picking up the rabbit by the neck, while it continued to spasm.

"Well done. That was a clean kill." Craig gave him and approving nod, smiling.

"Clean?! But... it's still alive!" Tweek shrieked, feeling guilty about making the rabbit's last moments so painful.

Craig shook his head, lifting the rabbit, "the pellet went in. It's dead. It's just the nervous system still working. Decapitated snakes can go for hours." He responded calmly, "You can put a few more pellets through its skull if it makes you feel better."

Tweek looked up at him, "I... I think I'll stick with the targets for now..." He mumbled, earning a laugh from Craig.

"If you say so. I'll show to how to reload."

They continued firing the gun, until the sky was dark and Craig's eyes lit up with a bright happiness. Tweek, on the contrary, was terrified, so they headed back, with the rabbit.

To Tweek's surprise, Craig didn't go back into the cave, he instead grabbed his bag and walked to the top of the hill, silently.

"Craig?! Where are you going?" Tweek called after him, hurrying to catch up.

Craig looked back with a smile, "we aren't in the town. There's less light pollution out here, which means the stars are easier to see. I brought my telescope as well."

Tweek rolled his eyes, "You really are obsessed with space, aren't you?" He asked, as they lay down beside each other, resting his hand on his cheek, as he stared at his friend, warmly.

Craig smiled back, " kind of... it's really interesting. I spend most of my free time at home reading through the NASA website." 

Tweek was silent for a few moments, "Hey... uh, why did you beat me up when we first met?" He asked hesitantly, remembering his previous reaction to the question.

But Craig was calm, just looking up at the sky, "... I dont-" he sighed, "I don't really know, actually... I guess I just enjoyed having something I was in control of, for once. Something I could prevent from ruining everything. Also, when everyone's scared of you... then they leave you alone. I didn't need to try to live up to anyone's standards and no one judged me for being me." He replied quietly, his face thoughtful, but almost melancholic.

Tweek stared at him, "You didn't want any friends?" 

Craig shook his head, "if I'm honest, you're the only half decent person I've ever met... but that's expected, when you come from a place like South Park." He added, with a small laugh.

Tweek rolled over to look down at his face, "that's kinda sad. The best person you've met is a twitchy, loud ball of anxiety? You must have pretty low standards." He muttered, his yellow-green eyes shining brightly.

Craig shook his head, "that's what makes you bearable... sure, I prefer everything to be boring and predictable, but you're just unique in a way that doesn't mess everything up." He responded calmly, his eyes warm.

Tweek grinned at him, "so what kind of things used to happen in your town that made it so bad?" He asked, unable to pry his eyes away from Craig's face.

"Well, I tended to avoid everything... but I once got dragged to Peru and had to murder someone with 'laser eyes'. Kyle's mum would have a new rant every week, trying to take down something half decent. Cartman is Cartman. He's once tried to be Hitler and kill the Jews." Craig murmured, nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on the night sky.

Tweek frowned, "you've killed someone with lasers?"

Craig nodded, "found out I was meant to be some kind of Guinea pig king... fuck if I know... and I've probably cause more than one death... I kind of spearheaded the charge against gingers, even after Cartman became one of them, I think some of them might have killed themselves. I could have beaten someone dead as well, I suppose. That kind of stuff was common though."

Tweek stared at him, wide eyed, before responding, " you've... made people kill themselves? And possibly killed them yourselves? Why aren't you in jail?!"

Craig smirked, "nobody gave a shit about it. Probably wouldn't be able to trace it back to me, either... plus, if I wasn't around, who would've taught you to shoot a gun properly?" He taunted, with a small chuckle, "so, what about you, Tiny? Anything interesting happen with you?"

Tweek paused, thinking, "not much... my dad used to put meth in all the coffee he sold, even mine. But this vigilante guy took out the lab, so he was forced to stop..."

Craig sat up quickly, his eyes wide, "he fucking drugged you?! And not even by choice?! I'm gonna kill that shit-smeared carrion next time I see him!" He snarled, his face alight with more emotion than Tweek had ever seen it carry.

"D-Dude! Please calm down! My dad's bad, but he doesn't deserve to die..." Tweek mumbled, nervously.

Craig turned his furious, scornful glare onto Tweek, "WHAT?! He deserves to get the fucking blood eagle! No kid should get drugged with something like that! Fuck!" He yelled, flipping Tweek off by reflex. After a few moments of glaring at Tweek, sharply, he let out a breath, his shoulders sagging as he rubbed his face.

"Ugh... your dad's a fucked up little rat, isn't he? Sorry I went off at you." He muttered, sounding tired, as he settled again, his voice monotone again.

Tweek smiled, "it's fine. I was angry when I found out too... but they're my parents.... and I'd rather not loose my best friend to prison." He laughed gently, admiring Craig's eyes once again, half wishing that they still held the sheer amount of emotion they did a few seconds ago.

Craig sighed, contentedly, as he stared at the sky, for at least another hour, until Tweek interrupted.

"Uh, don't you think we should go to sleep now?" He asked, "we still have two days of walking..."

Craig nodded, "yeah... I can look at the stars tomorrow night. It'll be even clearer. Do you want something to eat?" He responded, quietly. Tweek gave him a nod, as they walked back into the cave, glad to see that the fire was still burning.

Craig wandered to his bag, and taking out a can and holding it up to Tweek, "You like soup?" He asked, giving a brief smile as he nodded, before throwing the can at Tweek, hoping he'd catch it, before returning to his bag.

When he returned to the fire, he had a beautiful, sharp knife in his hand, whilst he grabbed the dead rabbit by the ears. He hand Tweek a can opener, before making a small cut in the hide of the animal, pulling of its skin and gutting it, to Tweek's horror.

"Dude! Wh-what the fuck are you doing?" Tweek asked, appearing confused and mildly disgusted.

Craig glanced at him and shrugged, "no point in killing something then wasting good meat." he muttered, calmly, as he picked up a stick, ramming it through the mouth and throat of the rabbit. He held it of over the fire, completely ignoring Tweek's stare.

After a few moments, Tweek shuffled closer to Craig, to heat up the can of soup that had been lobbed at him, or at least that's what he would have told Craig.

"What's your favourite colour?" Tweek blurted out suddenly, finding the silence unbearable.

Craig shrugged, "Don't really have one... but my favourite colour combination is probably purple and Black...maybe with some blue. Anything that reminds me of space really..." he mumbled.

Tweek gave a light giggle, grinning, "thought so. I like blue, as well... and silvers..." he added quietly, partially thinking of Craig's mismatched eyes. He felt his cheeks warm up slightly, as he stared at the boy sat next to him, who was completely oblivious to his subtle attempt at flirting.

"What about animals? I think parrots are pretty cool..." Tweek continued, his chest fluttering.

"Not sure... maybe alligators? Guinea pigs or scorpions?" Craig responded, monotonously. 

"... have you ever liked- as in properly _like_ like- someone?" Tweek asked quietly.

Craig turned to face him, looking slightly surprised, "... have I ever had a crush? ... not that I can remember... never really given enough of a rat's ass to go out with anyone... apparently most of the girls liked me in my previous school, as well as a few guys... I got asked out a couple of times, but I usually just beat the shit out of them." He replied, calmly, his voice remaining flat.

It was Tweek's turn to look surprised, "You didn't mind guys having crushes on you? I thought you were straight?" 

Craig nodded, "I...I am. People cant help how they feel, who am I to judge them on it? It's only when they start following me around everywhere and pretty much becoming stalkers, that's when I start messing with them." He sighed, looking back at the dancing flames that licked at the night sky, whilst smouldering embers glided into the air.

Tweek bit his lip, nervously, "what... What would you do if you found out that one of your friends... Clyde for example... had a thing for you?"

Craig paused, thoughtfully, "I don't know... if it was Clyde, I'd probably just tell him to fuck off... it would depend on the person, and whether I think there's a possibility that I might like them." He murmured, his expression blank, but soft.

Tweek, feeling a sudden boost of confidence, took a deep breath, leaning closer to Craig, "what if it was me?" He asked, gently.

His best friend turned to face him, wide-eyed, "if it was you? Like... if you told me you had a crush on me? Well... I dont know... I'm... I'm pretty sure I'm straight? I'd have to think about it..."

Tweek smiled, daring to move closer, "You sure? Preeetty sure a straight guy doesn't need to think about whether he wants to date a dude or not."

Craig sighed, running his hand down his face, "I dunno, Tiny. Life's been a bitch recently and I'm not quite sure what's going on. I might be gay... honestly I don't fucking care anymore. If I like someone then I'll go for them. End of story. " he muttered, turning back to the fire as the lifted the, now cooked, rabbit off the flames.

Tweek felt his mind buzzing.

'He thinks he could be gay? Oh fuck. I hope he likes me... wait... what if he does, but doesn't want to tell me because he thinks I'm straight?! Shit!' He thought rapidly.

"Uh... I'm gay!" Tweek yelled almost randomly.

Craig glanced at him, his face utterly 9desolate, "shocker." He responded sarcastically, before returning to what he was doing.

"You... you don't care?" Tweek asked, anxiously.

"Well... I mean, I _care._ But not in a bad way. You're my best friend. I'm not as oblivious as you think." Craig said, not even looking at him.

"You knew?" Tweek mumbled, feeling a tiny smile carving itself into his face.

Craig shrugged, as if it didn't matter at all, "I had my assumptions. You don't really hide it... do your parents know? If they did anything..."

Tweek shook his head, "they didn't do anything when I told them, dad thought it was great for business." 

Craig's face shifted into a dark scowl as he thought of Richard Tweak, "yeah... He told me that... I don't understand how you manage to tolerate that worthless, filthy, disgusting..." he trailed off into muttering random negative adjectives, his gaze hard and angry. The noirette stopped after a while, examining the rabbit meat carefully, before twisting off a leg and taking a bite, his expression blank.

Tweek stared at him, silently, admiring his features, his hand resting in his chin. He eventually looked away, to pick up the canned soup he had been heating up.

Out of nowhere, Craig grabbed his hand, making Tweek's face burn red. His hands were soft, but he could feel the heavily scarred skin in his palm.

"Dude. That's been beside a fire for a while. It's a can. Metal conducts heat. Did you pay any attention in science? I don't want you burning your hands." Craig grumbled, irritably, reaching for his bag and handing a pair of blackened gloves to Tweek, "these are fireproof. Be careful next time, Tiny."

Tweek gave him a smile and a nod, pulling the gloves over his hands and picking up the can, devouring it's contents ravenously, hungry after their walk.

Craig, on the other hand, only ate a leg and a few other scraps, having little to no appetite. Tweek looked over at him, almost sympathetically, as he moved closer.

"Craig... we have two more days of walking. You gotta eat more than that..." he said softly, his green-yellow eyes gentle.

Craig rolled his eyes, "fine... I'll eat more... don't see why you care about my eating habits though..." He muttered, narrowing his eyes at Tweek.

Looking mildly hurt, the blonde responded, "... because I care about _you._ You're my best friend I don't want you getting hurt, because you're too stubborn." He sighed, his shoulders sagging and the two fell into a silence, finishing their meals.

Tweek walked over to his sleeping bag and blankets, settling down to sleep, until he saw Craig laying down on the stone floor, with no kind of warmth once the fire went out. He sighed, shaking his head, deciding to forget about it: the black haired boy was hard to understand at times.

Craig eventually dozed off into a light sleep, but woke up an hour later, to an uncomfortable warmth beside him. Jolting awake, he began squirming, his vision still slightly blurry, until he heard a voice.

"Craaaaiigg. Stop moving. You aren't going anywhere. It's only been an hour, you don't need to get up." Tweek grumbled from beside him, tightening his grip on the older boy.

"Tweek?! Let me go! What are you doing?!" Craig snapped, writhing as he tried to find an escape.

"Go back to sleep... I'm not letting you freeze to death... hrgh..." Tweek mumbled, nuzzling into Craig's neck comfortably.

Craig continued wrestling him away, "Dude! Get off me! I wasn't gonna run away or some shit! Let me go!" He yelled, but received no response, eventually, he stopped shifting, giving up on escaping, although he didn't sleep.

When Tweek finally woke up, he looked up, to see Craig staring straight up, his face completely blank.

"You okay, Craig?" The blonde asked, slightly worried.

"Fucking dandy. Can you get off me now?" Craig grumbled, refusing to look at Tweek. At that, Tweek's heart sank and he shuffled away, looking mildly guilty.

"S-sorry... I was just worried about you... I understand if you're mad with me..." He mumbled, nervously as he sat up.

Craig sighed, shaking his head, "it's... fine. Just don't do it again. I'm not gonna freeze or disappear." He muttered, stretching out his body, with a yawn. Eventually, he noticed Tweek's sad expression and walked over with a small smile.

"Cheer up. It's alright. There's no need to be upset. Okay?" Craig said, soothingly, patting him on the shoulder. Tweek returned his smile, his expression brightening slightly.

The pair began to pack up their things and started along the route, stopping for a break and some food at sun-high. The day seemed to pass by much faster than Friday and they were soon at the net campsite, sat around a fire. There was a plucked and gutted dead pheasant over the flames, as well as a few metal pots. Tweek was glaring at Craig fiercely from across the area, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Contrastingly, Craig had a small smile on his face, as he held a clutch of newly hatched pheasant chicks. The blonde's disgust only increased as the black haired senior picked one out, his smile seeping. He held a hand to the chicks head, before flicking it, effectively killing it. Ignoring Tweek's glares, he slowly killed them off, getting creative with the method, throwing them against a stone, pushing their skulls in and many other ways, until their was only one left, which he stared at blankly.

"Dude... you're a sadistic little asshole! Why would you do that?!" Tweek barked suddenly, his tone angry. 

Craig wasn't at all phased, instead rolling his eyes, "Calm down. I was saving them from a worse, more painful death. What I did was completely ethical." He replied in a monotone, continuing to stare at the remaining chick.

"That doesn't mean you smile and try to get creative! You're a fucking horrible, psychotic bully! Why are we friends again?!" Tweek yelled, irritably.

Craig was silent, staring at Tweek blankly, his gaze was suddenly thoughtful. After a few moments of silence, he looked away, calmly, his focus returning to the bird in his hand. The ravenette stood up and walked toward one of the patches of tall grass near Tweek's tent, where his bag was. Soundlessly, he took off his hat, gently placing the bird inside, without saying a word.

Tweek refused to look at him, a guilt beginning to eat away at him for his words, but he still felt justified, so he stayed quiet. Craig returned to the fire after a few moments, picking up the stick that held the cooked pheasant, deathly silent the entire time, as he began to eat.

After several minutes, Tweek couldn't bear the silence, his mind racing with thoughts of Craig hating him for what he had said and never speaking to him again. He found his eyes welling with tears at the thought. He didn't want to lose his best friend.

"You know... no one's forcing you to be my friend. You can leave whenever you want to..." Craig spoke first, his words horrifying Tweek.

"NO! I don't want to leave... I'm really sorry... I-I didn't mean what I said. I-" 

Craig cut him off, "it's fine. It's not the first time I've been told that... usually it's worse to be honest. It's normal to have negative opinions about someone and voice it. You don't need to feel guilty about anything." He responded quietly, his voice unsettlingly flat and calm.

Tweek shook his head, "it isnt 'fine'! I was...I was horrible to you! You're my best friend and I was that rude! And what do you mean by you've been told worse?!" 

Craig sighed, "what you said was actually pretty vanilla. Pretty sure Kyle's brother and my sister had a dirtier mouth than you. Back in South Park almost no one had a filter." He mumbled, quietly.

Tweek paused for a moment, remember the party last Monday when Craig had spoken about his deceased family.

"... what exactly happened to your sister?" He asked gently.

Craig shrugged, "eh. I encouraged hem to go to a concert over in a different state a couple of years ago . They went and streamed the entire thing for my dad to watch. I came downstairs to hear my dad yelling and I saw my mom and sister bleeding out on the floor while everyone was screaming, with explosions and gunshots in the background." He recounted casually, his voice empty.

"Holy shit... I'm really sorry. That's awful... it must have been traumatic to say the least..." 

Craig shrugged, "I don't really care. I mean, Clyde killed his mom by not putting the toilet seat down and she ended up getting stuck and having her innards be ripped out. Difference between him an I though, is that whilst he's snivelling in the corner, I don't care at all. I understand that it's my fault, but I just... don't. Not sure if that's just me or the way I was raised." He mumbled, quietly.

Tweek stared at him, wide eyed for a moment, "it's not your fault. You didn't know what was going to happen." He looked at his friend, shuffling closer in an attempt to comfort him.

Craig shook hid head, "there's no point in trying to lie about it. I know I'm to blame for them being there. But as I said, I couldn't care less. They were both awful people. I'm still not sure why they ever adopted me." He sighed, glancing up at the sky, hoping that the new fact about him would make Tweek drop the subject.

It worked.

Tweek paused, his green eyes sparkling with emotion, "You were adopted? Did you know your real parents?"

Craig stared at him for a moment, thinking, "I might have... I don't remember. It was a long time ago. All I was ever told is that my dad was part of a gang and ended up being killed and my mother went suicidal shortly after I was born... guess it runs in the family then..." 

Tweek froze, Craig had already told him that he had tried to take his own life before, but he still didn't know why. It was tempting to ask questions, but he was terrified that it would send the senior back into the spiral of dark thoughts. The two stared at each other for a while longer, Craig finding The quiet enjoyable, whilst Tweek was beginning to shake nervously. The taller student was the first to look away, shifting his focus onto the sky, seeming tranquil.

"You know... You don't need to worry about saying things. Nobody's a perfect specimen. It's not like I'm gonna stop hanging out with you or something." Craig sighed, absentmindedly picking at the bark of a log, still staring upwards.

Tweek gave him a small smile, appreciating his words, " I was... gonna ask what drove you to... You know... but I get that that is a... touchy subject with most people." He mumbled, awkwardly.

Craig returned the smile briefly, before speaking again, "My life was just going to shit and I was struggling to cope, I guess. Nobody cared or listened when I tried to tell them. The only reason I survived is because one of my classmate found a note I had left and managed to get there in time...." He whispered quietly, still stating into the stars, calmly.

After a few moments of silence, he stood up and wandered to where he had left his hat, with the chick. He momentarily glanced at It, before lying down in the tall grass, dozing off after a couple of minutes. Tweek stay by the fire for a few moments, watching him carefully. He smiled at the way the senior slept: tightly curled up, not dissimilar to a cat.

The blonde found it adorable.

Eventually, he retired to his tent and got into his sleeping bag, falling asleep after a short time.

When he awoke and ventured out of the tent, he froze. Craig was gone. Tweek's breathing began to speed up as he looked around wildly. Nearly two hours later, he sat down by the burnt out fire pit, trying to hold back his tears.

After a few minutes of that, he heard a noise behind him.

"Uh.... tiny? You alright?" A familiar voice asked, only slightly concerned.

Tweek whipped around to glare at Craig, "I thought you said you wouldn't leave in the middle of the night!" He snapped, trying to mask his obvious relief with anger.

The taller boy stared at him, mildly startled, "I.... didn't think you'd be up yet. I was coming back. I just had something to do." He responded calmly, not extremely subtly slipping something into his pocket.

Tweek huffed, "I've been up for two hours looking for You! What were you doing?" He muttered, still irritated.

Craig sighed, pulling out the object from his pocket and hold it out to Tweek, "Fine. When I was in your house I saw that it was your birthday yesterday and I kinda felt bad for dragging you out here. So I made you a gift. It's a bismuth necklace, kind of, thing." He mumbled quietly, as Tweek took the object, eyes wide. 

"... oh. Sorry for overreacting again... how did you make it go all rainbowy?" Tweek asked, staring at the necklace.

Craig let out a small laugh, "it's how bismuth crystallizes, the colours are determined by the surrounding temperature when it makes contact with the air." He explain with a smile, "I thought I ought to do something, even if it's not much."

Tweek beamed at him happily, slipping the thin chain around his neck. Unfortunately, he was distracted by a chirping coming from Craig's pocket.

"What's that?" He asked, inquisitively, looking up at his friend.

Craig paused, reaching into his pocket, gently taking out the pheasant chick from the night before,

"I can almost never manage to kill the runts. So I'm gonna raise it. It's pretty easy." He responded, dismissively, as he took off his hat to place the bird inside again.

Tweek shot him a small smirk, "what? You have a thing for small things?"

Craig, seemingly oblivious as always, just stared at him for a moment before speaking, "kind of. I just sympathise with them, since they're usually the first ones to die. A type of bird called the Shoebill let's it's one aggressive chick attack the timid one and when she returns and the little one goes for comfort, she either ignores It, or beats it into a pulp with her beak." He murmured, quietly, his face remaining blank.

Tweek frowned, "that's... horrific. They seem like awful parents."

Craig shrugged, "eh. If you think about it... Its great parenting. Killing off the weakest so the one most likely to pass on the genes has a higher chance. Its survival. They aren't as pampered as us." He replied nonchalantly.

Tweek sighed, shaking his head as he began to pack up his things, "what time do you think we'll be back?" He asked, looking up at Craig.

The noirette's expression darkened slightly, before he answered, "not... not too long. Should be back home by three." He muttered, slipping his bags over his shoulders. Both of them then set off, continuing the circuit, talking with each other.

During the final stretch of the walk, Craig had noticed something peculiar: whenever he looked down at Tweek, he felt a warmth and fluttering in his chest that he hadn't experienced before. He couldn't stop thinking about what it could mean, is this how friends normally feel? Am I ill or something? Do I like him?

Craig quickly shook off the thought, pushing it to the back of his mind.

' _I can't have a crush on Tweek. I'm not gay. Sure, he's great, but he's my best friend. I don't like him.'_ He thought, drilling the 'fact' into his mind, although the original guess still lingered. The pair walked onwards, talking calmly, until midday, when they stopped to eat some granola bars.

After they finished eating, Craig stood up, with the chick in his hand, looking down at Tweek, 

"You ready to go, tiny? It isn't too far now..."

Tweek looked up at him with a grin, before nodding. He stood up, walking alongside Craig as they set off at a steady pace through the forest.

"By the way... if you want to come again, the others are having another party this Monday. It happens every week. I don't really get why they still invite me, but they do." Craig added, staring straight ahead.

Tweek glanced up, smiling warmly, "yeah. I'll come. It was fun last time." He said, with a slight laugh, " Have you seen that film-"

He stopped when he noticed Craig's expression: he appeared extremely wary, looking around at the trees, his eyes narrowed in suspicions. About a minute later Tweek heard an unfamiliar sound come from the shadows and felt a fear spread over him, suddenly.

Tweek huddled closer to Craig, who was stood tall, looking directly at one part of the nearby large shrubberies. The small blonde shuddered, terrified, as the bush rustle and the creature began to stalk towards them, snarling.

The scared blonde looked up at Craig, his eyes wide, "is that a cougar? Oh man... we're gonna die! ACK! No one will be able to find our bodies!"

Craig shook his head, "we aren't going to die. Its just a puma." He grumbled, taking a step forward. Tweek watched as he puffed out his chest and began running at It, yelling. At the sign of a threat, the feline recoiled, hissing and swatting at him.

Craig ignored It, instead stopping directly in front of It, looming over it. It was when he cat slashed at his arm, that he aimed at punch to its nose. The mountain lion hissed, before backing away and running off into the trees.

Tweek stared at Craig, in shock, "Dude... did... did you just fight off a cougar?"

Craig looked down to meet Tweek's gaze and, seeing the sheer awe and admiration in his eyes, the fluttering returned to his chest and he felt his cheeks warm up slightly.

Uh... yeah? Pumas can't do shit if you don't let them... might not work as well for you though. They might not see you as a threat. But they tend to back off if you put up a fight." Craig added, slightly teasing.

Tweek laughed, elbowing him in the side, playfully, "stop calling me small!" Craig smiled back, trying to ignore the unfamiliar tightness in his stomach when he heard Tweek laugh.

'Why is this happening? I know I don't like him in that way. So why do I keep feeling so weird?' He thought, unable to find an answer to his questions. Briefly glancing at Tweek, Craig sped up, staying a few paces ahead, in an attempt to prevent any more of his odd feeling.

It was as the sky was beginning to dim, that they arrived in the street where Tweek lived. The pair wandered up to the front door, stopping for a moment to look at each other in silence, before Tweek spoke.

"Do you want to come inside for a bit before you go home?" He asked, nervously, kicking at the gravel on the floor.

Craig paused, thinking for a moment, "uh, sure. I have time." He said, with a small smile. His chest fluttered as he saw the blonde smile back, brightly, before they walked in through the front door.


	11. Guten tag, fuckboy

When Monday, 5:45PM, finally rolled around, Tweek had just arrived at Stan's house, slightly disappointed to see that Craig hadn't arrived before him. He still didn't quite trust the others.

Especially Cartman, who was glaring at him from the other side of the room.

At around 7AM, everyone was still acting normal, whilst Tweek was silently stressing out in the corner.

"Tweek. You haven't been in any other games. Come join in with this one!" Kyle called from the other room.

'Perhaps a game'll help me to relax a bit... wonder where Craig has gotten to...' Tweek thought, joining the group. He froze as he realised what game they were playing: truth or dare. Again.

He was spared for about twenty minutes, before Clyde threw him the dreaded question.

"U-uh, t-truth? ACK!" Tweek mumbled, his anxiety building. He began shaking, as the others were silents for a few seconds.

"Tweek what did you and Craig do over the weekend? We saw you leave and No one could find either of you." Clyde asked, calmly, an unnerving, knowing look in his eyes.

"C-Craig? W-we were camping up in the hills. He taught me how to shoot an air rifle. On the way back he scared off a cougar that went for us. He's great!" Tweek recounted with a smile, blushing lightly as he stared at his hands. The room was silence as he felt everyone's eyes on him, making him shrink backwards, awkwardly.

"You really like him that much? Are you two... together?" Stan asked, curiously, leaning forward in his interest.

Before Tweek could deny it, Wendy glared at Stan, "of course they aren't! Remember how Craig treats people? He's the literal worst person I know, besides Cartman. He doesn't deserve that kind of happiness! Remember that one girl that asked him out a year ago? She was barely recognisable after what he did! He doesn't respect women or anyone!" She screeched, flailing her arms in her rant.

Tweek suddenly shot her a sharp glare, "Hey. Leave Craig alone. I don't care what you think of him. He's my best friend and I'm not gonna let you talk shit about him." He hissed, angrily, shaking with a mixture of emotions.

Wendy narrowed her eyes at him, "you're only saying that because you've got a little crush. Craig isn't a good person and anyone who thinks he is isn't worth my time." She huffed, before storming out, irritably.

Tweek watched her leave, along with the others in complete silence, eventually broken by Clyde.

"Jesus Christ. What's wrong with her? She barely knows him. I'm with Tweek on this. Craig isn't the best, but he isn't _that awful._

Token and Jimmy nodded in agreement, whilst the others looked slightly sceptical.

"... Tweek... you never denied having a crush on Craig. Do you actually like him?" Kyle asked, staring at him.

Tweek jumped, caught off guard, "uh, y-you don't need to know about that! Ngh! I don't- well... actually maybe I do... but it's none of your business! ACK!" Tweek yelled, embarrassed as he tried to hide his red face.

The group was quite for a while, before dropping the subject, although Tweek new that they- specifically Cartman- wouldn't let it go that easy.

It was 8:30 when Craig finally arrived, walking in as if he wasn't nearly three hours late. He simply sat down in the corner and began staring at the wall.

"Craig! Where the fuck have you been?!" Clyde yelled at him, waving his hand.

Craig looked at him blankly, before turning to the wall again, "out. Something happened, had to deal with it, end of story." He grumbled, looking angrier than usual, if that was possible.

"Oh. Then join in the game, since you did nearly nothing last time." Token called, waving at him, happily.

Craig rolled his eyes, before sitting down to join the group, sitting beside Tweek calmly. The game continued for a few more minutes, before it was Clyde's turn.

"Hey, Craig. Truth or dare?" He asked, grinning widely.

"... dare I suppose." He grumbled, clearly still annoyed from what ever happened before.

"Okay, okay, okay. I dare you to... throw Tweek across the room." He yelled, grinning.

Craig paused, glancing at Tweek, feeling his cheeks warm up slightly, "uh, no. I don't want to hurt him." He muttered, earning him some surprised glances.

"Really? Why? You've no problem beating everyone else up." Bebe responded accusingly.

Craig shrugged, "that's because I hate all of you. Tweek's my friend. I'd be more than willing to throw Cartman." He grumbled, sounding tired of the conversation.

"Huh. Then I'll give you a truth instead... where's your hat gone? You almost always have it on." Clyde asked, pointing at his head.

Craig sighed and reached into his pocket, taking out his hat and opening it up, to reveal the pheasant chick from the weekend.

"What's that? Some kind of bird?" Clyde asked peering at it, curiously.

Before Craig could speak, Tweek interrupted, "isn't that the runt we found while camping? And when I say found I mean you killed its mother then it's siblings." He asked, nearly sounding sarcastic.

Craig smiled with mild amusement, "yeah. That one."

Wendy scoffed, glaring in from the other room, "that's disgusting. You shouldn't kill animals like that. Then again, what else should we expect from a women hating, white man? You're a pig..."

Craig rolled his eyes at her, "Hey. I have nothing against women, just the bitchy ones like you." He said casually, before muttering under his breath, "Fucking feminazi..."

He gave a small, subtle smile as Tweek began laughing at his quiet comment, as Wendy's face turned a violent red with fury.

"See? You have no regard for anyone's feelings! No wonder almost everyone hates you! You deserve to die alone with no one around you..." she hissed, standing up and stepping towards him, pointing at him angrily.

Craig frowned, standing up to look down at her, coldly, "and I'd be fine with that. I never claimed to be a saint. I wouldn't want to be. But you're wrong. I care for people that I actually like, not whiny snowflakes that criticise every movement." He growled, making the much smaller girl step back, appearing mildly scared.

Stan intervened, glaring at Craig, "hey! Back off and leave my girlfriend alone! You aren't meant to fight with girls, you fucking faggot!"

Looking extremely pisses, Craig shot a death glare in Stan's direction, "I'll pick a fight with anyone who deserves their teeth knocked out. And don't you _dare_ call me a fag as if it's a bad thing and I'm not even gay! Just go back to your stupid game and shut up for once in your sad, pathetic, miserable life." He snarled, before sitting down, not bothering to acknowledge Wendy's attempts to rekindle the conflict, until she was eventually subdued into a grumpy muttering, before retreating back to the other room.

After a long pause, the others started to play again, some of them looking partially uneasy when glancing at Craig, who, after arriving looking angry, looked more irritable than ever. Tweek looked at the small, sleeping bird in his hat, before looking up at Craig's tired, angry eyes, half hoping he'd be picked next, so he could use his turn to ask Craig what was wrong.

Luckily for him, Bebe directed the question to him next, "Tweek, truth or dare?" She asked, grinning.

"Uh, truth?" He responded, nervously, hoping it wouldnt be something too awful.

"Hmm... if you had to, out of the people in this room, who would you kill? Who would you cripple? And who would you marry?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes on the last question.

Tweek froze, glancing quickly at Craig, before looking at her again, "ACK! W-well, I'd definitely kill Cartman... I'd probably cripple Wendy... a-and I suppose I'd- NGH- I'd marry Craig?" He responded, anxiously, his face going red. To his mild surprise, Craig had an almost unnoticeable look of surprise on his face.

It was Clyde who spook first, "wait so you really are gay?" He asked, earning him urgent looks from a few of he others.

"Uh, y-yeah?" Tweek mumbled, slightly scared of how they'd react, moving a bit closer to Craig in his fear.

"Uh, you probably shouldn't have said that in front of Craig. His dad's the biggest homophobe I know." Kyle hissed to Tweek urgently, looking at Craig.

Tweek gave him a confused looked, "Craig already knows. I've met his dad and I know that they are literally nothing alike." He replied, making the others exchange glanced again.

"He seemed to not be very 'accepting' back when we were younger. He was horrible to Kenny and Butters when they came out ." Kyle said skeptically.

Craig rolled his eyes, "that's because I hated them before hand. Sexuality doesn't change my opinion on someone. I'm going outside." He grumbled, before standing up and walking away.

Tweek yelled internally, fiercly annoyed that he had missed his chance to try and find out why Craig was so angry this evening.

Like last time, eventually people began streaming outside, summoned by the smell of cooking meat. As suspected, Craig was stood by the barbeque, his face set in ire.

Tweek was the last to come out side, freezing when he saw Kenny stride up to Craig, with a cocky grin.

"Hey Craigy~" he cooed, wrapping an arm around Craig's neck. Tweek glared at him, feeling the familiar jealousy rise up once again as he saw the blonde boy try to flirt with his best friend.

"Fuck off." Craig snapped in an instantly, stepping out of his reach, the anger in his features only increasing.

"Aw, really? I though you'd say something better..."

"What did you think I was gonna say? 'Guten tag, fuckboy'?" Craig hissed, his voice sharp and cold.

Before Kenny could respond, Tweek walked up behind them, gently resting his arm around Craig's shoulders"HGH- dude. He said to leave him alone, so leave him be." Tweek said, narrowing his eyes, fueled by his jealousy. Kenny rolled his eyes, before walking away, sighing

Tweek turned to Craig, giving him a concerned look as he stared into his tired, angry silver-blue eyes.

"Are you okay? You seem really pissed and tired..." He murmured, gently.

Craig sighed, "yeah. I'm fine. Just getting a bit annoyed with people. You're just about the only person I can tolerate at the moment." He muttered, taking a step away from the barbeque.

"Why? Did something happen?" Tweek asked, curiously.

Craig shrugged, "not really. Just people I gotta deal with, like Wendy and Kenny..." He grumbled, focusing his gaze on Tweek's bright yellow-green eyes, feeling a small warmth in his chest.

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. I was kinda worried you were angry with me." Tweek stated, sounding relieved.

Craig smiled with a small laugh, "of course not. You don't need to worry about things like that. You're pretty much the only person I don't want to throttle every other second."

Craig felt the warmth in his chest grow as he saw the light blush spread over Tweek's face, paired with a smile. His mind drifted back to his previous thoughts about his true feelings towards the short blonde, but he pushed it to the back of his find, not really wanting an answer. But he kept on thinking back to it, as the two spoke, despite his attempts not to.

It wasn't extremely long, before Clyde interrupted, punching Craig in the arm, causing the taller boy to hiss in mild pain, glaring at him.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't even hit you that hard..." He exclaimed, surprised by Craig's reaction.

"No, you didn't. Just burnt my arm earlier is all." He muttered, forcing himself to stay calm and to not throw a punch at Clyde in his anger.

"Really? How'd you manage that?" Clyde asked, laughing.

Craig glared at him, "none of your business." He spat, icily, his gaze filled with fury.

"Craig, relax. He isn't trying to be rude. Calm down." Tweek said gently, sounding concerned.

Craig froze, looking down at his friend and back at Clyde, before walking away, seething. Tweek followed after him, beginning to become extremely worried about his crush.

"Craig... please try to calm down... it isn't nice seeing you so angry." Tweek said, softly, "You know, if something's wrong, you can say so, right?"

Craig shook his head, "I know. But I'm fine. Everybody has good days and bad days, this just happens to be a bad day for me." He muttered flatly.

"What happened before you came over here? You've been looking annoyed ever since you arrived." Tweek asked, hoping that he wouldn't end up angering his best friend any further.

Craig sighed, "...my dad got drunk and saw me trying leave. Got into an argument. Which led to a physical fight again. Happens pretty often." He muttered reluctantly, refusing to look at Tweek.

Tweek frowned, feeling a sudden hatred towards Craig's father, just wanting him gone forever.

'Now I understand how Craig feels toward my dad... I wonder if that means he might like me back? Probably not... bad parents are just generally looked down upon.' He thought, his sudden jolt of hope almost instantly dissolving.

"If you wanted to, you could stay at my house until things settle?" Tweek offered, quickly.

Craig shook his head, "no. I'm fine with it. It just gets annoying after a while. And it isn't going to settle, my dad's pretty certain that I'm the literal worst and I doubt that that'll change." He muttered, "thanks for the offer though." He added after a small pause.

Tweek was about to reply again, but was interrupted by loud, blaring pop music from the other side of the garden, where the rest of the group was. He saw Craig roll his eyes as he stood up and walked over, with Tweek following behind him.

"Hey. What kind of filth is this then?" Craig asked them, looked more bored than angry now.

"You... you mean the music? Dude! It's at the top of the charts! How can you call it filth?" Stan asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"Because... it's awful? Ear-bleeding? Just horrific in general." Craig explained, earning him several offended glares. 

"Ay! This song's the best! I doubt your music is any better! Go on, play it on the speaker and we'll see what's better!" Cartman yelled, angrily.

Craig shrugged before taking out his phone and opening an app called Deezer. He quickly paired his Bluetooth to the speaker and scrolled through his main playlist, deciding what song to play.

Craig eventually pressed play on a song: Dead memories by Slipknot. The group sat in a shocked silence as the song played, with Craig tapping the tune on his leg calmly.

After the song ended, the group was silent, before Clyde spoke, "Dude. I never knew you were a metal-head! I thought you were into the same stuff as everyone else."

"No. Your music is absolute shit. Slipknot's been my favourite band for as long as I can remember." Craig said casually, "some of my friends used to call me a head-banging machine."

Cartman scoffed, "that isn't good music! You can't even understand it. It has no meaning, it's just angsty!" He sneered, angrily.

Craig sighed, "yes. You can understand it. And most of their songs do have a lot of meaning behind it. The song you just listened to, for example, is about Corey Taylor's grudges towards each member of the band. If you think those lyrics are hard to understand, I don't think you be able to stand some of the heavier stuff."

Cartman snorted in annoyance, "Fine! You play your 'heavier stuff' and _you_ sing the lyrics!" He yelled.

Craig paused, looking at him, "Alright. Don't see how that'll help though..." He began searching his queue again, looking for another good song.

Eventually he started playing the song: Sulfur, also by Slipknot. He began nodding his head to the rhythm, knowing the song off by heart.

"My guilt and my shame always sell me short,

Always feel the same

And my face and my soul always wear me thin,

Always under control.

But the longest hours you'll have in your life

Are the ones you sit through to know if you're right.

So I'll wait, but I pray that I'm wrong,

Because I think I know what going on.

So let me get this straight.

The only will is my own.

I do whatever I want and stay alone.

All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted.

I'm gonna suffer for the rest of my life,

But I will always find a way to survive.

I'm not a failure but I know what it's like.

I can take it or leave it, or die.

Stay, you don't always know where to you stand,

Until you know that you won't run away.

There's something inside me that feels...

Like breathing in Sulfur." Craig sang, his voice nearly matching the actual song, he was even able to do the metal roar-lie part of the song, leaving everyone stunned.

By the end, he was full on head-banging to the tune, clearly having fun. The song ended after a while and his expression instantly shifted into its usual emptiness, whilst everyone just stared at him.

"Dude. I've near seen you look anywhere near that happy before!" Clyde exclaimed, even Tweek was surprised by him.

Craig simply shrugged casually, "I like music. It's one of the more enjoyable things- when done right, unlike your shit."

Cartman growled, "Our music isn't shit! It's awesome! Nobody cares about stupid Death metal!"

Craig glared at Cartman, bristling with fury, "it _isn't death-metal,_ it's new/heavy metal. Get it right fatass, or someone might just snap your spine." He hissed scathingly, "death metal is mostly screaming. Heavy is much more preferable, in my opinion. Both get you riled up though..."

"Uh, sorry. But I kinda agree with Cartman. Pop music is epic. Your stuff is just so... violent. Wouldn't people who listen to it be some kind of terrorist faction?" Kyle said, flinching at Craig's glare.

"If you think the music is violent, wait until you see the videos. The official music video for All out Life literally shows the Slipknot cult getting hosed down with blood. And your second point was only started by the media to try to make people conform to their standards." Craig said, irritably.

Stan laughed, "Craig, you sound like those goth kids from South Park."

Craig huffed, obviously getting annoyed by the conversation, "No. THE THE c lounge and The gothic movement was mostly spearheaded by Marilyn Manson. His music is a bit too sexual for my tastes."

"Oh, bad news Kenny! Your little crush doesn't like sex! You'll be miserable!" Cartman taunted, meeting my, with a shrill, haughty laugh.

At that comment, Craig just snapped, charging into Cartman, pushing him to the ground. He began beating his face in, furiously, muttering in a foreign language. Once the fat kid was blinking blood out of his eyes, Craig grabbed hold of his head, repeatedly hitting it against a rock, his eyes blazing with pure anger.

When Cartman made the mistake of rolling over in agony, Craig instantly began kneeling on his lower spine, punching it as hard as he could, fully intent on fulfilling his previous threat. It was then that Kyle, Stan and Kenny stepped, in dragging Craig off of Cartman, whilst the taller boy yelled at the wounded one in the same foreign language.

"Learn when to shut your fucking mouth, or get what you fucking deserve!" Was the only English he snarled out, before wrestling himself out of their grip, shooting Cartman a disgusted look, before leaving.

"Uh, we'll call 911! Tweek, you go try to find Craig before he kills someone." Kyle barked commandingly, looking oddly worried about Cartman.

Tweek opted to ignore them and darted out of the house, looking around for Craig, at first he sa no one, before he noticed a blue figure disappearing into the woods. Worried for his friend, Tweek broke into a sprint after him.

When he caught up, his chest was heaving, his breathing laboured and irregular. He gripped onto Craig's shoulder, collapsing into his back.

"Tweek? Are you okay?" Craig asked, sounding alarmed, as he felt the warmth swell in his chest again, helping him forget the anger.

"I'm... I'm f-fine. Just... out of... breath." Tweek huffed, his breaths coming in short and ragged.

Craig gave a small laugh, sitting down against a crumbling, moss-covered old wall on a log, gesturing for Tweek to sit beside him. They sat in silence whilst Tweek caught his breath, with Craig watching him with a soft expression.

"You good now, tiny?" He asked, calmly.

"I should be asking you that! You were terrifying! I think he could die. Oh Jesus, man, you could be put in jail! I can't loose you!" Tweek yelled, his eyes starting to water.

Craig smiled gently, "Don't worry about me. I've been able to evade the police many times before. You aren't gonna loose me anytime soon.... that fatass deserved what happened. He insulted nearly all of the things that matter to me in one night: you and my music." He rested his hand on Tweek's shoulder, comfortingly.

The blonde paused, partially surprised, at Craig statement, but didn't let it distract him, "why'd you beat him up though?" He asked quietly, his vice shaky.

Craig shrugged, "like I said earlier, I've had a bad day. I'm sick and tired of Cartman being the narssicistic, bratty pig he is. So, I thought I should do everyone a favour and beat some sense into him."

Tweek nodded, thinking about the event, "Uh, w-what was that language you were speaking in by the way? I didn't recognize it..."

Craig laughed softly, looking down at Tweek, "it was just some Russian. I learnt it back when I was a kid and became fluent. So, when I started to speak less, I would still speak on Mic to my online friends in Russian, so for a quite a lot of my life I was only speaking Russian, so it's become a kind habit when I'm not really thinking." He explained, still keeping his hand on Tweek's shoulder, enjoying the feeling it gave him.

They sat in silence for a while, just staring at each other, warmly, both feeling the same sensation in their chest's. Craig felt his face heat up slightly when he noticed Tweek glance at his lips for a split second.

"Uh, so... why did you learn Russian?" Tweek asked awkwardly, his face much redder than Craig's.

With another laugh, Craig explained, "So that if someone spoke to me, I could pretend I didn't understand.... also I think Russia is an interesting country and I like the sound of their language."

Tweek smiled, but it faded after a while, "... are you gay? It's just that you get really defensive when-" Craig cut him off, quickly.

"I'm still not exactly sure. I mean, I kinda think so? But I'm still not quite sure." He replied calmly, still not blinking, as he stared at Tweek. The blonde's gaze flicked between Craig's eyes, seeming to be searching for something.

Craig froze as Tweek shuffled closer to him, before leaning in and kissing him. The moment their lips met, he felt that warmth in his chest overflow, and he relaxed again, finding that he was kissing back as well. His his trailed up to Tweek's neck, his thumbs gently stroking his skin, soothingly.

They eventually pulled apart, slightly reluctant and just looked at each other for a moment, in silence. It was then that Twek seemed to realise what he had done, instantly scrambling backwards to make a run for it, but Craig caught his arm, stopping him from leaving.

"Shit! I'm really sorry! I-I didn't- I- it- ACK!" Tweek yelled, looking extremely cared.

Craig just gave him a smile, "Tweek. It's fine. At least now I know that I am 100% gay."

That caught Tweek's attention, "Wait, really? You... you like me?" He asked, his eyes wide with poorly concealed hope, as he smiled widely.

Craig laughed, smiling affectionately, "pretty certain. I mean, I just kinda feel all weird and fuzzy in my chest when I'm near you, or think of you and I don't know what else it could be."

"That's great! I-uh, I really like you as well..." He responded nervously, his face red.

Craig grinned, teasingly, "Yeah. Thought so. You aren't the best at hiding your feelings, y'know."

Tweek froze, "really? I thought you were just really oblivious to that kind of stuff..."

"Nope. Just choose to not acknowledge it." He stated, his eyes seeming too have a brightness that they didn't possess before.

Tweek smiled contentedly, relaxing into Craig's side, enjoying the feeling, "So... do you wanna... you know, be together?" He asked, feeling a pious again.

Craig replied by wrapping an arm around Tweek's shoulder and pulling him in, so he could rest his head against the taller boy's shoulder, "what do you think, tiny?" He murmured, quietly, sounding happy.

"... I'll take that as a yes..."


End file.
